Good Hygiene Practices along the coffee chain The Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene – Transportation Module 3.5

Slide 2 Module 3.5 – The Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene – Transportation Objectives  To elucidate the requirements of transportation practices in preventing contamination of food and relate this to coffee transportation  Section VIII of Codex GPFH – “Transportation”  Factors of time, nature of hazards and final use  Suitability of means and maintenance  International transportation of coffee

Slide 3 Module 3.5 – The Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene – Transportation Objective of Section VIII Measures to be taken where necessary to  Ensure adequate and appropriate maintenance and cleaning of the establishment and equipment  Protect food form potential sources of contamination  Protect food damage likely to render the food unsuitable  Provide an environment which effectively controls the growth of pathogenic or spoilage micro-organisms and the production of toxins Food may become contaminated, or may not reach its destination in a suitable condition even if adequate hygiene measures have been taken earlier in the food chain

Slide 4 Module 3.5 – The Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene – Transportation Outline of Section VIII Codex GPFH Transportation  8.1 – General considerations  Requirements  Use and maintenance  8.4 – Transportation and distribution Reference: Recommended International Code of Practice- General Principles of Food hygiene [CAC/RCP1 1969, Rev.3(1997)]

Slide 5 Module 3.5 – The Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene – Transportation General considerations  Food must be adequately protected during transport and storage  The type of conveyance or containers required depends on  The nature of food  The conditions under which it has to be transported

Slide 6 Module 3.5 – The Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene – Transportation Requirements  Where necessary, conveyances and bulk containers should be designed and constructed so that they  Provide protection from contamination  Can be effectively cleaned  Can maintain temperature, humidity or other conditions necessary to protect food from deterioration

Slide 7 Module 3.5 – The Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene – Transportation Use and maintenance  Conveyances and containers should be kept in an appropriate state of repair and cleanliness  Where the same conveyance or container is used in the transport of different food and non- foods, appropriate cleaning should take place between loads  Where appropriate, especially in bulk transport, containers should be designated and marked for food use only

Slide 8 Module 3.5 – The Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene – Transportation Transportation in the coffee chain Temporary storage and transport at each segment Primary transformation Primary processing Secondary processing Exportable coffee Bagging Storage Fresh cherries Dry product Unsorted beans Graded beans ABCD  Transport takes place at several points of the coffee marketing chain  Processors must ensure that they avoid contamination of coffee during these operations

Slide 9 Module 3.5 – The Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene – Transportation Transportation of fresh coffee  Fresh cherries should not be stored before processing  Transportation of fresh cherries should be planned in such a way as to:  Minimise delay between harvest and processing - cherries should be processed as soon as possible on the day of harvest  Ensure that conveyances and containers minimise opportunities for contamination

Slide 10 Module 3.5 – The Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene – Transportation Conveyance of fresh material  Containers used in the transport of fresh cherries and wet parchment should be clean and made of impervious material  Bags used to transport fresh cherries should free of husks and other substances known to be highly contaminated with mould  Baskets used in the transport of fresh parchment should be lined with clean plastic

Slide 11 Module 3.5 – The Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene – Transportation Transportation of dry coffee in the local market chain  It is essential to avoid re-wetting of coffee during transport  Coffee should be protected from damage that would render it unsuitable for consumption

Slide 12 Module 3.5 – The Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene – Transportation International transportation  Length of transportation during export varies from a few days to several weeks  Diurnal variation of temperature can lead to condensation at the surfaces of coffee shipments  If re-wetting of coffee occurs, dormant spores can be re-activated and OTA may be produced  Bulk transport in container generally shows up the lowest incidence of damages upon arrival in consuming countries, but precautions are needed

Slide 13 Module 3.5 – The Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene – Transportation International transportation  Several studies were carried out on the international transportation of green coffee (a.o.)  Container bulk transport: Kampala - Mombassa – Bremen (51 days, 1999/2000)  Container bag storage trial in Rotterdam harbour (30 days, 1999)  Container bulk transport: Bangalore – Barcelona (42 days, 2004)  Model trials with Brazilian coffees

Slide 14 Module 3.5 – The Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene – Transportation Transportation trials Container bulk transport trial from Kampala to Mombasa to Bremen (1) Loose coffee DoorsDoors Probe 2 Probe 1 35 cm

Slide 15 Module 3.5 – The Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene – Transportation Transportation trials Container bulk transport trial from Kampala to Mombasa to Bremen (2)

Slide 16 Module 3.5 – The Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene – Transportation Coffee bags Head space DoorsDoors Transportation trials Container bag storage trial in Rotterdam harbour (1) Key: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 = Position of data loggers (temperature and humidity)

Slide 17 Module 3.5 – The Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene – Transportation Transportation trials Container bag storage trial in Rotterdam harbour (2) Head space

Slide 18 Module 3.5 – The Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene – Transportation Transportation trials Container bag storage trial in Rotterdam harbour (3) Temperature and A w at the beginning and at the end of the trial Feb. 19, 1999 Mar. 20, °C 0.73 Aw 23°C 0.64 Aw 11°C 0.72 Aw Coffee bags Head space 13.8% 12°C 0.75 Aw 12°C 0.67 Aw 10°C 0.70 Aw Coffee bags Head space 14.4%

Slide 19 Module 3.5 – The Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene – Transportation  Stuffing of green coffee into a container is either done in-land, at the mill, or in the port before shipment  Container should have no holes, be dry and clean, free of odors and have a dry floor - check such by inspection  Records of cleaning programme and previous loads should also be inspected Hygiene considerations in loading of containers

Slide 20 Module 3.5 – The Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene – Transportation Hygiene considerations in loading of containers  Factors to consider in the shipment of coffee  Ensure that moisture content of green coffee is below 12.5%  There must be protection from rain during stuffing of container  Suitable material should be placed on the surface of the coffee (both bulk and bagged coffee) to avoid rewetting with condensation

Slide 21 Module 3.5 – The Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene – Transportation Shipment of coffee  Below deck placement of container is advised to reduce exposure to sun/cold/weather  Direct shipment to port of destination is preferred - intermediate storage for trans- shipment can cause strong fluctuations of temperature and Aw inside the container  Unload container upon arrival as soon as possible - at least protect from direct exposure to sun/cold

Slide 22 Module 3.5 – The Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene – Transportation Main conclusions  Fresh cherry should be transported to the processing unit without delay to prevent compromising quality - keep transport time short and avoid storage  Re-wetting of dry coffee during transport can lead to high risk of OTA-contamination  Use only clean, dry and odour-free containers with no holes - inappropriate or poorly cleaned containers and conveyances can lead to contamination or other damage, making the coffee unsuitable or unsafe

Slide 23 Module 3.5 – The Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene – Transportation Main conclusions  Coffee should contain not more than 12.5 % moisture  Appropriate liners should be used to insulate coffee from container walls  Strong inside fluctuations in temperature and r.h. occur when the container is exposed to full sun and cold at night, both during overland transport & storage - this can cause condensation