Delivery checks and traceability: know what came in and where it went
Use deliveries as a useful control point. Check the food you receive, deal with problems before ingredients enter production and keep supplier records that help you respond quickly to a safety concern.
Check before putting food away
Confirm that the delivery matches your order, packaging is intact and chilled or frozen products are cold enough. Check relevant dates and label information using your business procedures. A rushed delivery should not bypass the checks needed to decide whether the food can be accepted.
Give staff authority to pause
If food may have been handled unsafely, keep it out of production and contact the supplier promptly. Have a clear route for rejection or isolation and for decisions by the responsible person. Record the problem and the action taken. Moving an unsuitable product into the fridge is not a corrective action by itself.
Keep records that can be retrieved
Traceability records identify your suppliers and any businesses you supply, along with product type, quantity and transaction or delivery dates. Invoices can provide much of this information. Batch references can help connect stock with a specific delivery.
- Keep supplier names and addresses.
- Link relevant delivery documents to the product.
- Make records available for inspection.
- Choose a retention approach suitable for your products and applicable requirements.
Try a short retrieval exercise
Choose one ingredient from today's production and find its supplier and delivery details. Then identify where remaining stock is held. Use any gaps to improve labels, filing and staff handovers before an incident requires urgent action.