Risk-Based Food Safety Plan Checklist for Grain Facilities

In an effort to help grain elevators and feed mills comply with the regulations outlined by the pending Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), the team at Iowa State University partnered with the FDA to create a risk-based food safety plan checklist.

Make a flow diagram of your operation

• Ingredients and drug traceability. Meat Protein products?
• Bulk grain traceability from bin to bin. Any records?
• Finished product traceability (what bin(s) used)

Building and Grounds

• Pest Management Plan- Record Keeping
• Policy on loose grain and ground maintenance
• Chemical management plan (i.e. oil, lubricants, cleaning agents)

Sanitation

• Policies on how to clean bins, trucks, trains, wagons (Is sweeping enough?)
• Policy on cleaning the ground and facility
• Pest waste management (Birds, mice droppings)
• Record Keeping of when, by who, and frequency of sanitation

Personnel

• Personal hygiene standards (i.e. clothing and shoes not on another farm)
• Training on quality and safety standards

Biosecurity (Intentional/Unintentional Contamination)

• Security on bins, buildings, and processing areas
• Previous load record keeping logs for trucks, etc.
• Visitor policy (Potential to bring hazards onto farm or from farm

Allergen Control (wheat, soy, eggs are main allergens)

• Harvesting protocol for growers (i.e. soy doesn’t mix with corn)
• Plan on how to prevent cross contamination during processing (flush cycle between allergen and non-allergen batches)

Policy on Foreign Material Control (i.e. glass, wood, metal, and stones)

Recall Plan of Action (e.g. annual mock recall)

Customer Complaint Policy

Use of data – Do you regularly review any of this data and make improvements?