Writing Your Own Food Defense Plan
Step three in developing a food defense plan
No Bleu Cheese Please!
In 1984, members of an Oregon cult intentionally contaminated restaurant salad bars with Salmonella bacteria.
They were attempting to influence an election.
751 individuals became ill, and 45 of those were hospitalized.
Food Defense Plan Defense plans are
encouraged but not required for food establishments.
Courtesy of Food Technology magazine, from "Defending the Food Supply," August 2005, Vol. 59, No.8. Food Technology is a publication of the Institute of Food Technologists, www.ift.org.
Facilities Currently Required to Participate
in Food Defense All vendors providing processed
foods to USDA federal feeding programs must be in compliance with the Food Defense System.
What do I Need to Write a Food Defense Plan?
Vulnerability assessment Map of Facility Operational documents
HACCP plan SOP or GMP BQA or PQA plans
Who Will Be Responsible?
Designate a food defense coordinator to develop, implement and maintain the Food Defense Plan
Write the plan
Describe each vulnerability specifically.
Decide if the vulnerability is practical to address.
Determine a countermeasure.
Write the plan (continued) Decide who will be responsible to
implement the countermeasure. Choose a reasonable timeline for
implementation. Initial plan when implementation of
countermeasure is completed.
Implement the plan
Install countermeasures Workforce implementation
F – follow company food defense plan and procedures
I – inspect your work area and surrounding R – recognize anything out of the ordinary S – secure all ingredients, supplies and
finished product T – tell management if you notice anything
unusual or suspicious
Managing the plan
Review and revise the plan to accommodate new and newly elevated risks
Train the employees regarding their effort in: Prevention Detection Response
Test the countermeasures after implementation Make unannounced entrances at various
checkpoints Check locks in vulnerable areas Perform a mock recall Test inventory procedures
Managing the plan (continued)
Managing the plan (continued)
Re-evaluate the plan annually or as products, processes or facilities change.
Copies of the plan should be kept on-site and off-site.
Beef Cow-Calf Operation
Family owned pasture based cow-calf and grass finishing operation.
Livestock on farm 100 fall-calving cows and their calves 25 replacement heifers 20 steers being grass finished
Located 8 miles outside of town on a county highway.
Beef Cow-Calf Operation (continued)
Farm is 440 acres Two pole barns, one three-sided
structure Perimeter has woven wire fence and
two strands of barbed wire with no gate on driveway.
Well Head
Feed Bins
Livestock water
pond
pond
Sorghum Silos Row Crop Farm (660) 445-9123
House
Barn/ Equipment Shed
Hwy AA
Gravel Rd
Corral
Happy Herefords Beef Farm (660) 445-2345
Dand
y De
vons
Org
anic
Bee
f (6
60) 4
45-5
678
Q# Specific Vulnerability PracticalY/N Countermeasures Who will
ImplementTimeline to
ImplementationDate
CompletedInitials
1Driveway has no gate yes Add a gate at driveway
entranceMurray, Brangus
and Angus 11-18-0910-10-09MGM
1 No exterior cameras no
1 No signage on perimeter fence yes Add “no trespassing” and “no hunting”
signs to fenceMurray, Brangus
and Angus 6-18-097-20-09
AM
1 Perimeter fencing is not monitored regularly yes Implement a schedule for monitoring
fence line monthlyBrangus and
Angus 6-18-09 6-10-09 BM
2 Door for pharmaceutical and chemical storage not
lockedyes Add lock to door and limit number of keys
issued (family members only) Murray 6-18-0911-15-09MGM
3 Procedures for feeding, doctoring, processing cattle
are not secureno
3 Visitor log yes Implement a visitor log system Murray10-15-09MGM
4 Liability for cattle not in shipping and sellers
agreementyes
Negotiate the agreement so liability for calves sold at auction is with hauler and
then auction facilityMurray 6-18-09
6-7-09MGM
5 No inventory system for feed chemicals or pharmaceuticals
yes Develop and inventory system Murray 11-18-099-28-09MGM
6 Well head is not locked yes Lock well head Murray 11-18-099-15-09MGM
6 Well head is not locked yes
8 No security training for family yes Familiarize family with SCAN and other
security training Murray 11-18-0910-2-09MGM
9 Fences between farms don’t limit access to
livestockno
9 Feed is not stored in a lockable facility no
Work on completing your food defense plan