Chapter: Operations & Documentation
Section: Process Controls
Sub-section: F.B.14.3 Cooling of Heat-Treated Fish Products

Element

The regulatory requirements contained in this guideline will be met when:

F.B.14.3 (01) Cooling practices control or mitigate microbial growth, or other contamination. (Risk Ranking: Medium)

Rationale

This section applies to heat treated products such as hot-smoked, cooked, and pasteurized ready-to-eat products (RTE). Note - This section does not apply to canned fish products (Refer to FPG Process Controls – Alternative, new, novel or unique process controls).

Cooling practices should limit the amount of time that a fish product is kept at temperatures that allow microbial growth. Fish products should be cooled as quickly as possible through the temperature range where rapid microbial growth can occur, to prevent the growth of heat-shocked pathogen spores. Most common food-poisoning bacteria can grow between 0 degrees Celsius and 54 degrees Celsius, but they grow most rapidly between 21.1 degrees Celsius and 57.2 degrees Celsius.

The process control documents for cooling heat treated products should contain the following technical process information:

  • the frequency of recording the temperature of cooked, pasteurized, or hot-smoked fish products,
  • the time and temperature of measurements taken,
  • the temperature measuring device used, and its calibration records,
  • in addition, refer to FPG Process Controls – General.

One example of an acceptable cooling strategy for heat-treated fish products involves cooling the product immediately after heat treatment, and measuring the internal temperature to ensure that:

  • the product is cooled from 57.2 degrees Celsius to 21.1 degrees Celsius within 2 hours, and
  • the product is further cooled from 21.1 degrees Celsius to 4.4 degrees Celsius within an additional 4 hours.

Best practices include:

  • cooling begins immediately after the heating cycle is completed and is continuous,
  • taking frequent measurements throughout cooling (more specifically, between 57.2 degrees Celsius and 4.4 degrees Celsius) is a good idea, as more frequent measurements allow the cooling window (57.2 degrees Celsius, 21.1 degrees Celsius, and 4.4 degrees Celsius) to be accurately recorded,
    • ideally, a minimum of 5 measurements should be taken (there is no regulatory requirement for a specific frequency that an operation must meet when recording product temperatures, but the more frequent the measurements, the better)
    • if too few measurements are taken, there may not be sufficient evidence to demonstrate that the cooling requirements have been met
  • a data logger can be used, which allows the exact time when the cooling clock begins and ends, however temperatures can also be taken manually but this will require more coordination and planning,
  • for RTE products that are pasteurized in the container, the steps after the pasteurizing process should prevent product contamination (e.g. package integrity inspections, use of chlorinated cooling water).

Cooling of ingredients used in fish products:

In some RTE fish products, some ingredients (e.g. rice or pasta) may be cooked prior to be used in the processing of the fish product.

One example of an acceptable cooling strategy for cooked rice or pasta used in a fish product involves cooling the ingredient immediately after cooking to ensure that:

  • the product is cooled from 60 degrees Celsius to 20 degrees Celsius in 2 hours and from 20 degrees Celsius to 4 degrees Celsius in 4 hours.

Regulatory References

Food Safety and Quality Act, 2001; O. Reg. 465/19 s. 25 (3), 43, 51, 52, 53 (3), 55, 56

    1. Equipment used at a fish processing plant to cook, heat, treat, refrigerate or freeze a fish product must be designed and maintained so that it is effective in achieving any standards or temperatures that are required by this Regulation.
    1. The operator of a fish processing operation in respect of which a licence is required under this Regulation shall ensure that fish products and ingredients are kept at a temperature and humidity that keeps them safe during processing, packaging, labelling, storing and handling.
    2. The operator shall ensure that the temperature of every refrigerator used for the cooling or storage of fish products is maintained at 4 degrees Celsius or lower.
    3. The operator shall ensure that the temperature of every freezer used for the freezing or storage of fish products is maintained at a temperature that will keep the products frozen.
    4. The operator shall ensure that the temperature and humidity of every room in the fish processing plant used by the operation where fish products are received, processed, packaged, labelled, shipped, stored or handled are controlled to prevent the contamination of fish products, ingredients, labelling materials and packaging materials.
    1. The operator of a fish processing operation in respect of which a licence is required under this Regulation shall ensure that written process control procedures are developed, implemented and monitored to effectively identify any risk of contamination of fish products, ingredients, labelling materials and packaging materials and to prevent, eliminate or minimize any identified risk.
    2. The operator shall ensure that at the time the process control procedures referred to in subsection (1) are performed and monitored, a record is created that includes,
      1. the date the procedure was performed and monitored;
      2. the results of the monitoring, including any deviations from the process control procedures; and
      3. the actions taken in response to any deviations from the process control procedures, including disposing of the fish product or taking measures to produce a safe fish product.
    3. The operator shall ensure that the process control procedures referred to in subsection (1),
      1. are reviewed as needed in order to,
        1. evaluate whether the procedures are being properly implemented, and
        2. verify the effectiveness of the implemented procedures with respect to producing a safe fish product; and
      2. are updated as needed.
    4. The operator shall ensure that at the time a review referred to in clause (3) (a) is undertaken, a record is created that includes,
      1. the date the review was performed; and
      2. the results of the review.
    5. The operator shall ensure that every record created under this section,
      1. is kept for at least one year from the date the record is created; and
      2. is readily accessible.
  2. The operator of a fish processing operation in respect of which a licence is required under this Regulation shall ensure that any regulatable activities engaged in by the operation are performed in a manner that minimizes the risk of contamination of fish products, ingredients, labelling materials and packaging materials and produces fish products that are safe.
    1. The operator shall ensure that each fish product referred to in subsection (1) is prepared in accordance with its corresponding recipe.
    1. The operator of a fish processing operation in respect of which a licence is required under this Regulation shall ensure that fish products, ingredients, labelling materials and packaging materials involved in any regulatable activities engaged in by the operation are,
      1. stored and handled in a manner that minimizes the risk of contamination;
      2. stored at a temperature of 4 degrees Celsius or less, if they must be refrigerated; and
      3. are kept frozen, if they must be frozen.
    2. With respect to the ingredients referred to in subsection (1),
      1. each ingredient must be labelled to indicate the name of the ingredient and, if the ingredient is comprised of more than one component, a list of the components; and
      2. if an ingredient’s packaging contains instructions for use, those instructions must be kept at the fish processing plant and readily available to the employees of the operation.
  2. The operator of a fish processing operation in respect of which a licence is required under this Regulation shall ensure that every fish product processed, labelled or packaged by the operation is,
    1. processed, packaged, labelled or stored in accordance with this Regulation; and
    2. safe.