Engineering
Our engineers independently assess food manufacturing premises, facilities, and equipment for compliance with:
- New Zealand regulatory requirements
- Importing country requirements
- Export regulatory requirements
- Internationally recognised standards
Our services range from regulatory services, including heat treatment and premises evaluations, to non-regulatory services, including heat treatment validations and annual checks/tests, equipment fabrication inspections/assessments, and industry training.
Heat Treatment Validation & Heat Treatment Evaluation
AsureQuality Engineers have in-depth knowledge of the MPl (formerly NZFSA) Heat Treatment Code of Practice (COP) and industry recognised heat treatment requirements. Heat treatment assessments and audits include validations and evaluations for a range of food manufacturing processes and liquid product types, including:
- Dairy products (including pasteurised milk and UHT milk)
- Juices
- Soups
- Fruit pulp
- Plant based milks
- Stocks
- Eggs
- Wine and beer
...and other liquid products.
Heat Treatment Validation
Validation of heat treatments for compliance with nominated design codes and industry standards occur at the design stage and through to the certification of completed equipment. In-depth compliance reviews of the existing heat treatment processes can also be completed.
Heat Treatment Evaluation
Carried out by MPI recognised Heat Treatment Evaluators, who evaluate and approve:
- Heat treatment design
- Fabrication
- Safety controls
- Performance
- Record keeping
- Staff knowledge
...for compliance with the New Zealand regulatory system, as well as internationally recognised heat treatment requirements.
Continued Compliance
Annual checks and tests can be completed for heat treatments that have been previously approved. This helps you to ensure continued compliance with regulatory and internal compliance requirements.
Premises Evaluation
Our engineers are MPI recognised Dairy Premises Evaluators. They have experience throughout the food manufacturing industry, including the build of new premises or significant changes to existing premises.
Premises evaluations include a review of the initial designs for both new manufacturing premises and changes to existing premises, as well as onsite assessments throughout and upon completion of the project.
Design and Plant Layout Reviews
Design and plant layout reviews cover all aspects of factory layout design, which are considered critical for safe food production.
This includes assessments of:
- Factory layouts
- Build plans
- Environmental controls
- Hygienic design
- Building finishes
- Ventilation
- Drainage
- Process and Instrumentation Drawings (P&IDs)
- Pasteurised product segregation and controls
- CIP processes
- Services
- Instrumentation requirements
- Food and non-food grade materials
Onsite Reviews
Onsite reviews are completed as part of premises evaluations to verify that hygienic design standards are implemented for buildings and processing plants; and that controls are effective throughout the project.
Independent Assessments
Our engineers provide independent assessments of food processing equipment. This includes:
- Approval certificates for standard components (vent valves, flowmeters, etc.)
- Hygienic surveys of farm and plant equipment
- Gap and investigation audits of premises where improvement is required
Fabrication Inspection
Our engineers inspect process equipment during fabrication and on completion to confirm hygienic design and specification conformance with compliance requirements.
The equipment can be assessed for compliance with both the New Zealand and overseas requirements. These inspections can include:
- Welding and general design
- Material certificates for stainless steel
- Internal quality records
Inspections can be arranged on request with inspection reports supplied to the customer and fabricator on completion of the audit.
Independent Assessments for Dairy Manufacturers
All dairy businesses must meet legal requirements, which ensure their dairy products are safe and suitable for human consumption. Legislation that sets out the requirements for dairy manufacturers includes the Animal Products Act (APA) 1999 (external link) and the Animal Products (Dairy) Regulations 2005.(external link)
This means as a dairy business you must operate using one of the following:
- Food Safety Programme (FSP)
- Risk Management Programme (RMP)
Recognised Agency Services
As a dairy Recognised Agency (RA) AsureQuality can evaluate and verify the RMP and FSP. AsureQuality acts on behalf of the Ministry for Primary Industries, which means it is authorised to make decisions on compliance for dairy manufacturing and storage facilities.
Risk Management Programme (RMP) Evaluation
- A Risk Management Programme Evaluation ensures that the RMP, associated procedures and export requirements are complete and in complied with will deliver the specific outcomes
Heat Treatment Evaluation
- These are engineering assessments of new premises and equipment or following significant changes effecting buildings, plant and equipment
Heat Treatment Validation
- We carry out engineering evaluations for new or significatnly changed heat treatment equipment. We are also experts in ongoing operations checks for heat treatment equipment
RMP Verification Audit
- These are conducted to observe evidence that the RMP procedures and export requirements have been implemented and are delivering the documented outcomes
For more information and the RMP templates visit the MPI website(external link) .
Other Services
Industry Training
AsureQuality offers heat treatment training and pasteuriser training for pasteurisation and UHT heat treatment processes. Heat Treatment Awareness(external link) and Heat Treatment Awareness - UHT(external link) courses are designed to inform operators and other associated company staff of the fundamentals of pasteurisation and UHT heat treatments. AsureQuality also offers tailored training for hygienic design and best practice factory design for the dairy and food industry. This is available upon request.