Overview
This standard covers the skills and knowledge needed for you to process cheese encasement operations in food and drink manufacture and/or supply operations. Cheese encasement operations is a group name for, amongst other methods, wrapping cheese in bandage, surface moulds, brine or waxing. This is usually a hand operation. Knowing how to process cheese encasement operations is important to the production of a final product that adheres to regulatory food safety and organisational quality and yield specifications. It is important to the production of a number of cheese related products where cheese encasement operations are an important step in the process to add value or preserve the cheese in a particular way.
You will need to know how to prepare equipment needed to process cheese encasement operations and control cheese encasement operations processing. You must also know how to address problems, work within the limits of your responsibility and adhere to regulatory standards and standard operating procedures. You must be able to apply your skills and knowledge within food safety regulations and any relevant international industry codes especially when referring to HACCP, TACCP and VACCP.
This standard is for you if you work in food and drink manufacture and/or supply operations and are involved in carrying out cheese encasement operations.
Performance criteria
You must be able to:
1. prepare to receive prepared un-encased cheese product from upstream processing equipment/storage and associated compliance documentation
2. use the correct personal protective equipment
3. check organisational standard operating procedures and product recipes relating to the cheese encasement
4. check that all necessary plant, equipment, plans for production, encasement materials and services are available and fit for use
5. check that a suitable storage area is available to receive bandaged cheese
6. liaise with relevant personnel to confirm the cheese encasement operation
7. prepare encasement option in line with organisational instructions
8. encase cheese to organisational requirements
9. make dairy product available to next stage of processing or packaging
10. dispose of waste from encasement operations according to organisational requirements
11. liaise with relevant personnel to prepare process for shutdown
12. take representative samples for testing adhering to organisational sampling plan within the limits of your responsibility
13. process and route interphase product
14. establish and maintain effective spoken, written and electronic communication with relevant people
15. complete the necessary documentation and process to organisational requirements
Knowledge and Understanding
You need to know and
understand:
1. the food safety aspects of the production of encased cheese products including HACCP, TACCP and VACCP
2. the regulatory and organisational requirements relating to the encasement of cheese by hand
3. how to source the tools, equipment, facilities and resources needed to encase cheese by hand
4. the personal protective equipment needed when encasing cheese and why it is important to use it
5. why it is important to maintain pace of production when encasing cheese by hand
6. the importance of adhering to quality specifications and customer requirements when encasing cheese by hand
7. the action to be taken if quality checks do not meet product specification
8. how to work within the limits of your authority and take action to address problems
9. the importance of maximising yield when encasing cheese by hand
10. how the manufacture process and support operations use digital technologies rather than paper based systems to monitor and control production
Relevant Occupations
Food Preparation Trades, Manufacturing Technologies, Process Operatives, Process, Plant and Machine Operatives
Keywords
Dairy; cheese; encasement; product; bandage; surface; mould; brine; wax; food; drink