Since 2005, the Commission has been encouraging European food businesses to develop community guides for the effective application of hygiene and food safety rules. EFBW members took up the challenge and created an expert task force to compile best hygienic practices for the bottled water sector.
EFBW’s Guide to Good Hygienic Practices is the most comprehensive of its kind produced for the European bottled water industry. It comprises a detailed set of recommendations for good manufacturing practices and will assist bottled water producers to continue to implement the strict food safety requirements required at EU and international level.
Preventive measures and critical control points are outlined for every aspect of bottled water production, from water resource management and the protection of catchment areas to piping and distribution.
Based on the European Commission’s Guidelines for the development of community guides to good practice of hygiene, the Guide takes into account the Codex Standards as well as EC regulations on food safety and hygiene.
Dr José Bontemps, one of the guide’s experts, said: “The adoption of EFBW’s Guide to Good Hygienic Practices is an important achievement for the industry. We encourage EFBW’s national trade associations to use it as a basis to develop their own guides thus facilitating the task for water bottlers to continuously integrate best hygiene practices in their operations.”
EFBW secretary general Patricia Fosselard, said: “We are very pleased that the European Commission has endorsed EFBW’s Guide. Hygiene is key for a product such as natural mineral water, which must be pure at source and must not undergo chemical treatment.
“The Guide highlights the very best practices in the field and also demonstrates the industry’s commitment to offer products which meet the highest quality standards.”
Source: EFBW
© FoodBev Media Ltd 2024