good manufacturing practices (2023)

The past few decades have seen increased cross-contamination of food and water in industrial settings, leading to public health concerns. Cross-contamination refers to the often unintentional transfer of microbes, chemical contaminants (including allergens), or other foreign substances from food, objects, or person to other food products.

It can occur at various stages of food production, including where food is stored or during handling and preparation. There are many different causes for cross-contamination, but all the reasons can be prevented if specific guidelines are adhered to.

With today’s focus on food safety and the globalization of the food supply chain, facilities that handle food must clearly understand cross-contamination and its prevention in Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP).

If you are looking to improve your processes, make sure you go through these five cross-contamination prevention guidelines to stay compliant and avoid losing ground to your competitors.

What Are the Possible Causes of Cross-contamination?

According to the CDC: “Food, equipment, food contact surfaces and people are considered important sources of cross-contamination.”

For example, if you were to chop raw meat on a cutting board and then use it to cut vegetables, you would have cross-contaminated the vegetables and made them unfit to eat because the potentially harmful leftovers from the raw meat have contaminated the vegetables.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), almost one out of every ten people worldwide becomes ill after eating tainted food, and 4,20 000 people die each year.

But, what causes cross-contamination? There are four ways in which contaminants can move through a process:

(Video) What is GMP? | Good Manufacturing Practices in Food Industry | SafetyCulture

Raw food

Raw food is considered an essential agent of cross-contamination. Raw food containing harmful bacteria, such as in uncooked meats, may contact other foods and contaminate them.

For instance, microbial contamination can occur to Ready To Eat (RTE) items from blood dropping from raw meat during storage (if RTE products are stored uncovered and below raw meat products).

Equipment and food contact substances

Food residues on equipment and other surfaces where food comes in contact, such as conveyor belts, assembly lines, storage units, etc., can cross-contaminate other food products.

One of the most widespread examples of this type of cross-contamination is when an unclean and dirty cloth is used to wipe tables which can potentially contaminate the food with bacteria and allergens when served on it.

Moreover, cross-contamination is possible due to pathogens contaminating the RTE products during packaging due to contaminated packaging material, among others.

People

Microorganisms and allergies may be transferred to food by food workers who do not observe Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs).

For instance, factory workers who do not adhere to GMPs (or cut corners in the process) may cross-contaminate food with allergens and pathogens while handling foods.

Moreover, workers can contaminate RTE goods with filthy uniforms, gloves, and dirty boots.

(Video) GMP 101 - Intro to Good Manufacturing Practice [WEBINAR]

Apart from these sources, there are many ways in which foodborne illness can occur, such as:

  • Production stage: The way food is prepared for the end-user from plants or animals.
  • Equipment handling: Cross-contamination can occur anywhere along the path of food processing, starting from harvest or slaughter.
  • Transportation and distribution of food: The process of transporting food can cause unwanted flavors to transfer between the transported products.

For example, if a truck carrying poultry is also responsible for distributing flour or bread products, the vehicle will likely acquire the taste and smell of chicken.

Today, you’re probably not using any harmful ingredients to make your product. Still, it’s important to understand good manufacturing practices and how you can avoid making mistakes that could potentially cause problems for your business.

5 Cross-Contamination Prevention Guidelines

good manufacturing practices (1)

GMP or good manufacturing practices is the system businesses follow to maintain consistency and quality during the production of cosmetics, food, or pharmaceuticals.

The goal of GMPs is to create an environment that prevents contamination and makes a safe product for consumers.

Before market distribution, inspections and quality audits are conducted to ensure that these products comply with safety, quality, and branding standards.

In food manufacturing, the most critical part of creating a safe product that is healthy and tasty is the quality of the ingredients and the processes used to make them.

Therefore, the requirements of good manufacturing practices allow food to be free of contaminants, undesirable substances, and stable.

(Video) Best video on 10 Principles of GMP | Good Manufacturing Practices

Here are five cross-contamination prevention guidelines you can implement in your organization:

1. Set clear procedures and work instructions

To avoid cross-contamination, specify operating procedures and work instructions. Each member of the organization should follow the guidelines to ensure control and consistent performance.

Ensure procedures are approved by the quality department and are clear, concise and logical to avoid confusion and malpractices.

2. Choose the right people and offer adequate training to employees

To ensure that each product is being handled/built with the highest quality, an organization needs reliable workers who know how to do their job right from the start. Training should be provided for all employees whose activities could affect the quality of the product.

3. Protect the environment by practicing hygiene

When we talk about good manufacturing practices, there is nothing more critical than cleanliness and hygiene, particularly for drug, cosmetic, and food manufacturers.

The fight against contamination is a constant battle and requires the attention of every single employee.

Add these steps to your good hygiene practices:

  • Make sure the packaging equipment is always clean before and after using them.
  • Kick any clutter out of your workstation and remove all unnecessary documents.
  • Provide employees with a ‘tool kit’ and instruction manuals to ensure they are equipped with the right equipment and correct information.

4. Schedule timely inspections and audits

Conduct inspections to ensure every employee is aware of the GMP regulations. FDA auditors track the overall performance of your team and check for any potential gaps in the system.

(Video) Good Manufacturing Practices

Generally, a self-inspection process involves:

  • Making sure that suitable materials are in place to produce products.
  • Ensuring the products meet the specifications and are tested and approved before releasing them.
  • Ensuring manufacturing areas such as table packaging and labeling areas are clean to avoid mix-ups and errors.
  • Finally, ensuring employees are trained correctly and can understand written procedures while working.

5. Follow labeling standards

It’s possible that you may experience issues with mislabeling during production and packaging. Any such risk is a danger to health! This is why mislabeling is one of the things GMP aims to prevent.

A study revealed that mislabeling leads to cross-contamination, poor food quality, and even degradation of nutrients.

What can you do to avoid mislabeling products?

  • Design a separate work area for executing operations on unlabelled products.
  • Separate storage for printed materials such as labels and leaflets will avoid mislabelling issues.
  • All products, equipment, and bulk containers must be labeled correctly to avoid contamination.
  • When labeling is done, fill in the right product and seal it immediately.

How to Get Your Business Audit-Ready?

Are you concerned with how to effectively monitor GMP compliance? Inspecting manufacturing processes all the time can be tiring and time-consuming. But here’s a solution for that, you can centralize the restaurant hygiene process with Pulse’s cloud kitchen and checklists library.

How can you use Pulse? It lets your team members report any incidents, suggestions, or problems on the mobile app within minutes. This way, managers can tackle issues before they get out of hand.

Whether managers want to check their staff’s work off of a task list, review the latest food and sanitary compliance reports, or wish to schedule inspections – the app lets you get more done with less effort.
Schedule a demo today or try it for free to get the actual experience. Call us at 1800-266-9988 in case of any queries.

Tags:Compliance Manufacturing

(Video) Good Manufacturing Practices - GMP in Pharmaceuticals

FAQs

What are the 5 main components of good manufacturing practice? ›

5 Key Components of Good Manufacturing Practices
  • Primary Materials and Products.
  • Premises.
  • People.
  • Procedures.
  • Processes.
6 Jul 2021

What are the 3 importance of GMP? ›

Good Manufacturing Practices are a critical system that all manufacturing facilities should implement. They help ensure the proper design, monitoring, and control of the manufacturing processes and facilities. Companies that adhere to these standards help to assure the identity, strength, and quality of their products.

What are GMP requirements? ›

GMP regulations require a quality approach to manufacturing, enabling companies to minimize or eliminate instances of contamination, mixups, and errors. This protects the consumer from purchasing a product which is not effective or even dangerous.

What is a GMP checklist? ›

A Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) audit checklist is a tool used by manufacturers to ensure that food, pharmaceutical, medical, and cosmetic products are of consistent quality and in compliance with manufacturing standards.

What are the 7 steps of manufacturing? ›

7 Simple Steps to Manufacturing Success
  • Step 1: Generating the Idea. ...
  • Step 2: Nurturing. ...
  • Step 3: Getting Help. ...
  • Step 4: Prototyping. ...
  • Step 5: Considering Pre-production. ...
  • Step 6: Planning for Production. ...
  • Step 7: Fostering Continuous Improvement.
31 Mar 2015

What are 4 m of GMP? ›

The mainstay of GMP is the 4M principle; Men, machines, material and manufacturing premises.

What are 8 GMPs categories? ›

Potential GMP categories include, but are not limited to:
  • Building and Facilities.
  • Receiving.
  • Sanitation.
  • Food Handling and Processing.
  • Packaging.
  • Storage.
  • Personnel and Training. Cleanliness. Handwashing. Jewelry. Gloves. Hair restraints. No food in processing area.

How many types of GMP are there? ›

Assuring quality of a manufactured product requires certain procedures and standards. In many industries, these procedures and standards are often referred to as Good Manufacturing Practices, or GMPs.

What is the first principle of GMP? ›

The first principle of good manufacturing practice takes cognisance of the fact that work procedures and work instructions are basic to the business's operations. Hence, it is important to write all procedures, right from the beginning of the process to the end.

What is the role of GMP in the workplace? ›

Good Manufacturing Practices* (GMPs) are the basic operational and environmental conditions required to produce safe foods. They ensure that ingredients, products and packaging materials are handled safely and that food products are processed in a suitable environment.

Who is responsible for GMP? ›

GMPs are enforced in the United States by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), under Title 21 CFR.

What is the ISO standard for GMP? ›

ISO 22716 is an international standard of good manufacturing practices (GMP) for the cosmetics manufacturing industry and describes the basic principles of applying GMP in a facility that produces finished cosmetic products.

What is GMP classification? ›

The GMP clean air grades and classifications define the environment in which sterile drugs and biological products should be manufactured. Under the GMP requirements, the manufacturing of sterile medicinal products can be distinguished into 4 grades: Grade A, B, C & D.

What are GMP signs? ›

GMP signs help your facility comply with GMP,QSR and ISO requirements. Facility signs can help you designate specific areas of your production, manufacturing, storage and laboratory operations, declare product status or specify personal protective equipment requirements.

How do you conduct GMP? ›

Considerations in GMP Auditing
  1. Maintain and Use a Written SOP for GMP Auditing. ...
  2. Assure Confidentiality of Outcomes. ...
  3. Use Checklists As Needed. ...
  4. Make Sure That All Auditors Have Proper Qualifications. ...
  5. Eliminate Any Conflicts of Interest. ...
  6. Address Scheduling Issues.

What are 9 lean manufacturing principles? ›

The 9 principles discussed are: Continuous Flow, Lean Machines/Simplicity, Workplace Organization, Parts Presentation, Reconfigurability, Product Quality, Maintainability, Ease of Access, and Ergonomics. The preferred shape of the lean workcell is U-shaped. Each subprocess is connected to the next in order of process.

What are the 4 manufacturing strategies? ›

Four primary strategies were found: waste minimisation; material efficiency; resource efficiency; and eco‐efficiency. The literature was analysed to determine the key characteristics of these sustainable manufacturing strategies and 17 characteristics were found.

What is 4M and 5S? ›

4M has implemented 5S, an organizational system that creates clean, orderly, safe and high performance working environments at all of its locations. The term 5S comes from 5 Japanese words: Seiri. Seiton. Seiso.

What are the 5 ms of manufacturing? ›

Lean is an all-encompassing philosophy that takes the 5 M's (Man, Material, Machines, Methods, and Money) and harmonizes or helps orchestrate them together for the best possible outcome in your manufacturing operations.

What is 4M Six Sigma? ›

4M Affinity Diagram: 4M stands for Man, Method, Machine, and Material.

Is HACCP part of GMP? ›

HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) which is a set of 7 Principles and guided into a Management Standard for Food Safety- can be part of GMP and is a systematic program to assure food safety.

What's the difference between GMP and HACCP? ›

GMPs can be seen as the equivalent of the prerequisite programs to HACCP. The main difference between HACCP and GMP is that HACCP adds requirements for risk mitigation around your products and ingredients, as well as requirements for traceability requirements.

How many principles are there in GMP? ›

Every GMP guideline follows the 10 basic principles of WHO version.

Is GMP part of ISO? ›

One of the main problems of comparing GMP and ISO is that the two standards are not the same and are not really trying to do the same thing. GMP is a product quality standard, with a focus on getting the right quality product to the only customer of GMP – the patient.

Is GMP part of ISO 9001? ›

The difference between ISO 9001 and GMP is that ISO 9001 is a quality management system standard, while GMP is a set of Good Manufacturing Practices. Both standards are widely used in the manufacturing industry, but there are some key differences between them.

What is GMP and SOP? ›

Definitions. GMP = Good Manufacturing Practice. SOP = Standard Operating Procedure.

What is GMP code practice? ›

Good manufacturing practice (GMP) is the minimum standard that a medicines manufacturer must meet in their production processes. Products must: be of consistent high quality. be appropriate to their intended use.

How do I create a GMP plan? ›

A good manufacturing practices program should be the bedrock for producing safe food in your food business.
...
Here is an overview of each of these steps.
  1. Step 1: Research. If you don't know the rules, how do you expect to comply with them? ...
  2. Step 2: Document. ...
  3. Step 3: Implement. ...
  4. Step 4: Record. ...
  5. Step 5: Review.
14 Aug 2017

What is difference between ISO and GMP? ›

ISO is considered a business-focused standard that always enforces effective management of internationally considered best prices. GMP is considered practices that are required for ISO to conform to guidelines recommended by agencies.

What are the 3 ISO standards? ›

ISO 9001:2015, a standard for general organizational quality management systems (QMS), including vendor management. ISO comprises QMS standards for specific industries, too. ISO 27001:2013, a standard for Information Security Management Systems (ISMS) ISO 14001:2015, a standard for Environmental Management Systems.

What is GMP vs cGMP? ›

The terms GMP and cGMP are somewhat interchangeable—because technically, when standards are updated, and new regulations are put into place, the new ones become the current, i.e., cGMP. However, cGMP regulations always refer to the newest technologies available at the time of production.

What is difference between GMP and quality? ›

Quality Assurance: is a facet of Good Manufacturing Practice that encompasses all aspects that impact the overall quality of a product. GMP quality assurance is essential for making sure a final product has the quality expected of it and the quality that is required for it to work as intended.

What is GMP material? ›

What is good manufacturing practice (GMP) and how can it affect the safety and quality of raw materials used in cell therapy development? GMP is a system that ensures that medicinal products are consistently manufactured and tested according to specific quality standards.

What are the 5 manufacturing processes? ›

Five types of manufacturing processes
  • Repetitive manufacturing.
  • Discrete manufacturing.
  • Job shop manufacturing.
  • Process manufacturing (continuous)
  • Process manufacturing (batch)
2 May 2022

What are the 5 steps of manufacturing? ›

5 Steps: How to Manufacture a Product
  • Step 1: Research Research….and do more Research. Before you begin looking for manufacturers, do your research on your product. ...
  • Step 2: Designing your part. ...
  • Step 3: Outsourcing. ...
  • Step 4: Design input. ...
  • Step 5: Manufacturing your product.
21 Feb 2014

What are the 5 stages of manufacturing? ›

Each stage has purpose and goals, and it is important that in each phase the goals are met before proceeding to the next. The 5 stages are development, pre-production, production, post-production, and distribution.

What are the 6 main manufacturing processes? ›

Six types of manufacturing processes
  • Repetitive Manufacturing.
  • Discrete Manufacturing.
  • Job Shop Manufacturing.
  • Process (Continuous) Manufacturing.
  • Process (Batch) Manufacturing.
  • 3D Printing.

What are the 7 factors of manufacturing? ›

The 7 factors which influence the decision of establishing an industry are: availability of raw materials, labour, capital, access to markets, availability of abundant power supply, modes of transportation like railways, roadways for transportation of finished goods, and raw materials; and availability of land.

What are 3 main types of manufacturing? ›

There are three types of manufacturing production process; make to stock (MTS), make to order (MTO) and make to assemble (MTA).

What are the 7 key elements of lean manufacturing? ›

What is lean manufacturing? The top 7 principles for manufacturers to improve processes
  • 1) Elimination of waste. ...
  • 2) Valuing the human element. ...
  • 3) Seeking perfection. ...
  • 4) Mapping the value stream. ...
  • 5) Reducing and preventing mistakes. ...
  • 6) Identifying loss of value. ...
  • 7) Automatically finding defects.
16 Mar 2022

What are the 3 elements in manufacturing process? ›

The three general categories of costs included in manufacturing processes are direct materials, direct labor, and overhead.

What are the 4 types of processes? ›

The main manufacturing process types are project, jobbing, batch, line and continuous. Project processes produce products of high variety and low volume. A feature of a project process is that the location of the product is stationary.

What are the 8 steps in production process? ›

Follow these eight steps to go from concept to manufacturing, and hopefully, a profit.
  1. Step 1: Product Concept. ...
  2. Step 2: Research. ...
  3. Step 3: Design. ...
  4. Step 4: Create the Final Design. ...
  5. Step 5: Testing. ...
  6. Step 6: Manufacturing and Assembly. ...
  7. Step 7: Feedback and Testing. ...
  8. Step 8: Official Release.
27 Feb 2019

What are manufacturing techniques? ›

Manufacturing Techniques means the manufacturing, production, preparation, processing, handling, and storage techniques, processes, and methods, including sequential timing and staging information, used by Seller, together with the Acquired Formulas and other Seller assets (for example, expertise and facilities), to ...

What are the four 4 factors to design for manufacturing? ›

What is Design for Manufacturing or DFM?
  • Process.
  • Design.
  • Material.
  • Environment.
  • Compliance/Testiing.
24 Mar 2020

What are the 4 M's of production or operation? ›

By implementing best practices that address the 4Ms of Machines, Manpower, Methods, and Material.

What are the 4 components of a manufacturing system? ›

Answer: As listed in the text, the four components are (1) production machines plus tools, fixtures, and other related hardware, (2) a material handling system, (3) a computer system to coordinate and/or control the preceding components, and (4) human workers to operate and manage the system.

What is the first step in manufacturing? ›

Initial planning stage

We receive product plans and quality specifications from the customer, draw up a proposal for the manufacturing method and overall schedule, and based on this information calculate a rough cost estimate.

Videos

1. GMP - Good Manufacturing Practices
(PAHO TV)
2. An Introduction to Good Manufacturing Practice - Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Industry
(inglasia pharma solutions)
3. What is Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP)?
(Marketing Business Network)
4. Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) || It's Principle || GMP Vs CGMP || FSO
(PriShi learning)
5. Personnel Practices: Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) in Food Industry
(Food Safety Training School)
6. Good Manufacturing Practices
(Anabel Lopez)
Top Articles
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Sen. Ignacio Ratke

Last Updated: 11/20/2022

Views: 6016

Rating: 4.6 / 5 (56 voted)

Reviews: 95% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Sen. Ignacio Ratke

Birthday: 1999-05-27

Address: Apt. 171 8116 Bailey Via, Roberthaven, GA 58289

Phone: +2585395768220

Job: Lead Liaison

Hobby: Lockpicking, LARPing, Lego building, Lapidary, Macrame, Book restoration, Bodybuilding

Introduction: My name is Sen. Ignacio Ratke, I am a adventurous, zealous, outstanding, agreeable, precious, excited, gifted person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.