ABC 51 Application for Process Authority for Almonds

OMB No. 0581-0242

ABC Form No. 51

Almond Board of California

Criteria for Approval of Process Authorities

Scope

Pursuant to § 981.42 of the almond marketing order (order) – 7 CFR Part 981, and as specified in § 981.442(b) of the order’s regulations, handlers must subject their almonds to a treatment process or processes that have been determined to achieve in total a minimum 4-log reduction of Salmonella bacteria. Handlers may treat the almonds themselves prior to shipment, transport the almonds to a facility within California for treatment, ship untreated almonds to an approved manufacturer (DV User) within the U.S., Canada, or Mexico, or ship untreated almonds labeled as “unpasteurized” outside of the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. All treatment processes must be validated by a process authority approved by the Almond Board of California (Board or ABC).¹ The Board administers the order locally, with oversight by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Process Authorities

A process authority is a person that has expert knowledge of pasteurization processes or other treatment requirements for the safety of foods. The expert knowledge can be obtained from education or experience or both. Anyone who is establishing treatments must use adequate facilities for making the determinations. Anyone who is evaluating treatment deviations must utilize procedures recognized by competent process authorities as being able to detect any potential hazard to public health.

To establish treatment requirements the process authority shall have:

• knowledge about the product characteristics and the equipment used for the treatment process;

• experience in conducting appropriate studies to determine the ability of the equipment to deliver the appropriate treatment (such as heat penetration or heat distribution studies) and the determination of the lethality value needed to attain public health safety (such as microbiological challenge studies);

• ability to determine by evaluation of the acquired data that sufficient data has been gathered to identify the critical factors needed to ensure the safety of the final product. The written document delineating the treatment required should include all the critical factors and the maximum or minimum values for the appropriate factors;

• at least two references of current or past clients, a reference from a nut processor would be preferred;

• a statement that you have access to the microorganisms (or have a relationship with a third party and/or laboratory who can provide technical support) required to validate a system that requires microbiological work. Specifically, do you have access to thermocouples, leads and data acquisition systems; and

• should ABC request further information from the applicant to process an application, an initial response must be received within 30 days to keep the application open; failure to respond within 30 days will result in a rejected application. Correspondence thereafter must be received in a timely fashion as determined by the ABC.

The process authority may need to evaluate the ability of the processor to adhere to the requirements of the prescribed treatment. If necessary the process authority will need to provide the processor with sufficient information to understand the critical factors and how to measure and to control them.

The process authority is responsible for the evaluation of treatment deviations to determine whether a lot is a potential hazard to public health. (Note: Evaluation of deviations is not necessary if lots subject to a deviation are disposed of in a manner that assures they will not be used for edible purposes.) The evaluation of the treatment shall be undertaken using accepted methods for deviation analysis. All records of treatment and production activities associated with the critical factors required for the treatment must be made available to the process authority for the evaluation unless the product will not be used for edible purposes.

Potential almond process authorities shall submit an application (ABC Form No. 51) for inclusion in a list of process authorities that are approved by the Board. It is imperative that potential almond process authorities have access to information related to the resistance of Salmonella Enteritidis Phage Type 30 (SE PT30). Until articles are published in scientific journals, information on the resistance of SE PT30 to (hot water) blanching, oil roasting and dry air roasting of almonds is available from the Board.

Almond Board of California

Process Authority for Almonds

Application Form

Pursuant to authority provided in § 981.42 of the almond marketing order (order) – 7 CFR Part 981, and as specified in § 981.442(b) of the order’s regulations, handlers must subject their almonds to a treatment process or processes that have been determined to achieve in total a minimum 4-log reduction of Salmonella bacteria. Process authorities validate that the treatment technology and equipment have been demonstrated to achieve the minimum 4-log reduction. The Almond Board of California (Board or ABC) locally administers the order, with oversight by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

In consideration of the approval of this application, the following applicant requests approval as a Process Authority for almonds for

20xx/20xx (crop year). ²

Date:       

Company      

Name      

Address      

Telephone (_    )_     _______Fax (    _)_     ________

Email:      

Please complete the following (attach a curriculum vitae and additional pages, if needed):

Professional Affiliation(s) and Education:

     

Length of time as a process authority:

     

Products/Equipment/Processes for which you have been a process authority:

     

Experience conducting or evaluating tests that determine the effects of the treatment on microorganisms, such as microbiological challenge studies. (Specify microorganisms and types of tests, including recovery and enumeration techniques):

     

Experience conducting or evaluating tests that determine the effects of the treatment on foods (note how this is relevant to processing of almonds or other nuts):

     

Undersigned hereby certifies to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Board that the information supplied herein is complete and correct. The making of any false statement or representation on this form, knowing it to be false, is a violation of Title 18, section 1001, United States Code, which provides for the penalty of a fine of $10,000 or imprisonment of not more than 5 years, or both.

Date___________________ Signature________________________________________________________________

Printed Name_____________________________________________________________

Return completed form to: Almond Board of California, 1150 9^th St., Suite 1500, Modesto, CA 95354 fax: (209) 550-5494

For ABC Use:

Date Received by ABC:
Date Approved by ABC:
Effective for Crop Year:	August 1 – July 31,
Date Process Authority Notified of Approval:

Note: The following statements are made in accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a) and the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The authority for requesting this information to be supplied on this form is the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, Secs. 1-19, 48 Stat. 31, as amended, (7 U.S.C. 601-674). Furnishing the requested information is necessary for the administration of the marketing order program.

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 0581-0242. The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average 2 hours per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an individual’s income is derived from any public assistance program (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD).

To file a complaint of discrimination, write to USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410, or call (800) 795-3272 (voice) or (202) 720-6382 (TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer

1 Applications will be reviewed and approved by the ABC Technical Expert Review Panel (TERP). Should the applicant disagree with TERP’s decision, it may appeal the decision in writing to the Board, and ultimately to USDA.

2 Applications will be reviewed by ABC’s Technical Expert Review Panel (TERP). Should the applicant disagree with TERP’s decision, it may appeal the decision in writing to the Board, and ultimately to USDA.