Transcript What to Do When You Experience an Emergency or Disaster at Your

WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU EXPERIENCE AN
EMERGENCY OR DISASTER AT YOUR
FOOD PROCESSING FACILITY – THE
STATE’S PERSPECTIVE
California Department of Public Health
Food and Drug Branch
May 2013
WHAT CAN GO WRONG?
Earthquake
 Fire
 Flood
 Landslide
 Power Outage
 Facility Damage (e.g.,
leaking roof)

Sewage spill or
overflow
 Equipment failure
 Severe injury / fatality
 Gas or ammonia leak
 Chemical spill
 Loss of Potable Water
 Others?

FACTORS TO CONSIDER
Employee health and safety
 Structural stability of the facility
 Functionality of the food processing equipment
 Duration and severity of the incident
 How quickly you found out about the incident

Immediately
 After impacted food had been shipped


Safety of the food
SOME QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF
Were you processing at the time of the incident?
 Which specific food product(s) were impacted?

Unpackaged / unprotected food
 Packaged / protected food

What was the nature of the impact on the food
product?
 Have you segregated and clearly identified
impacted food products?
 Can the impacted food product be re-worked?
 Does food product need to be destroyed?
 Is a recall necessary?

NOTIFY US WHEN FOOD HAS BEEN
IMPACTED BY…
Non-potable water
 Sewage
 Filth, mud, dirt, debris
 Blood or other body tissues
 Loss of Temperature or Other Critical Control
 Chemicals
 Gasses
 Smoke
 Any other contamination that may lead to unsafe
food

HOW QUICKLY SHOULD YOU NOTIFY US?
As soon as possible after learning about the
incident
 Before you distribute food product
 Before you destroy food product
 Before you re-initiate food processing operations

HOW CAN YOU CONTACT US?

California Department of Public Health (CDPH)
Food and Drug Branch (FDB)

During normal business hours


(916) 650-6500
After hours
FDB Duty Officer (916) 650-6625
or
 CDPH Duty Officer (916) 328-3605


Please provide the following information:



Name & phone number of the person we should call
Your company’s name and address
A brief description of the incident / problem
WHEN YOU NOTIFY US, WE WILL CALL
YOU AND ASK …
For information / details about the incident and
the food impacted
 What you have already done
 What agencies have already responded to the
incident (fire department, Cal OSHA, etc.)
 When you plan to resume food processing
operations

WE MAY DEPLOY STAFF TO YOUR
FACILITY TO…
Assist you to evaluate the safety of impacted food
products
 Ensure that impacted food products have been
properly identified and segregated
 Witness voluntary destruction of impacted food
products
 Conduct an inspection to determine whether it is
OK to resume food processing
 Assist you to draft a recall notice (if necessary)
 Collect additional information (if necessary)

QUESTIONS??
Jane Marie Reick, M.P.H.
Chief, Food Safety Inspection Unit
CDPH – Food and Drug Branch
(714) 558-4595
Jane. [email protected]