Production Records and Quality Checks: How to Do Weight and Appearance Checks

What the Regulations Require

The Regulations on Good Hygiene Practice for Food (食品良好衛生規範準則) require food manufacturers to do the following:

• Article 13: Control necessary parameters during processing such as temperature, humidity, pH, water activity, pressure, flow rate, and time; establish control methods and criteria and keep records; keep records of process and quality control; and when abnormalities occur, take corrective and preventive actions and record them.
• Article 15: Confirm that each batch of finished product meets quality assurance requirements, with appropriate procedures for handling nonconforming product, and keep records.
• Article 10: Regularly calibrate inspection instruments, measuring devices, and recorders, and keep records.
• Article 11: Keep records for at least 5 years.

For businesses required by public notice to implement HACCP, the Regulations on Food Safety Control System (食品安全管制系統準則) also require a monitoring plan for critical control points, including the items, methods, frequency, and personnel for monitoring (Article 8), and written records kept for at least 5 years (Article 12).

The regulations don't specify "how many pieces to sample per batch." Each plant must set this itself based on its products and risks, write it into its standard operating procedures, and actually follow it.

How Many Pieces to Weigh per Batch

The sample size and frequency are set by the plant. Here is one design you can use as a reference; the numbers are only a starting point and should be adjusted to product risk and machine performance:

• At startup: Before starting production, weigh about 10 pieces in a row and confirm that both the average weight and individual variation are within range before starting full production.
• During production: Sample and weigh a few pieces at fixed intervals (for example, every hour) and record them.
• When something changes: Take an extra sample after changing a raw material batch, a shift change, a machine adjustment, or a restart after stopping.
• Before the end of the shift: Take one final sample.

Frequency can be adjusted based on product risk, machine stability, and past records. If the machine is stable and records show small variation, the interval can be lengthened; for a newly introduced machine or product, sample more frequently early on.

When weighing, it's recommended to record the "total weight" and the "filling weight" separately (cutting the piece open or weighing the wrapper separately if necessary). The wrapper-to-filling ratio of filled products affects texture and cost, and also relates to the contents stated on the label.

What to Record

A production record sheet can include:

1. Basic information: Date, line, machine, product name, shift, operator, batch number.
2. Raw materials: Which batches of flour and filling were used, for traceability; see Labeling and Traceability: Dates, Batch Numbers, Barcodes.
3. Machine settings: Weight setting, speed, program number.
4. Weight checks: Time, weight of each piece, average, pass or fail.
5. Appearance checks: Shape, seal, torn wrappers, exposed filling, size consistency, foreign matter.
6. Temperatures: Dough temperature, filling temperature, product temperature at the freezer outlet, freezer room temperature.
7. Metal detection: Test piece results and times.
8. Output and rejects: Quantity produced, quantity rejected, and reasons.
9. Abnormalities and handling: What happened, how it was handled, and who confirmed it.

How to Set Acceptance Ranges

The acceptance range needs to balance several things:

• Declared net weight: If the finished product is labeled by weight, the net weight after packing must comply with the Weights and Measures Act (度量衡法) rules for prepackaged products (where designated by public notice), and the weight range per piece must keep the total package weight compliant.
• Machine capability: First collect weight data from the machine running stably to see how large the natural variation is. If the range is set narrower than the machine's capability, product will keep failing; if it's too wide, quality gets out of control.
• Product requirements: Too light and customers feel shortchanged; too heavy and costs rise and cooking time may be insufficient.
• Cooking and freezing: Products with large weight differences are hard to steam, boil, or blast-freeze for a consistent time.

A common approach is to set "target weight ± tolerance," plus a narrower "warning range": when a sample exceeds the warning range, adjust the machine first; only when it exceeds the tolerance is it judged nonconforming.

Appearance Checks

Define appearance criteria and post photos as "acceptable/unacceptable samples" next to the line; this is more effective than written descriptions. Examples: split seams, exposed filling, wrinkled wrappers, deformation, flour patches on the surface, and obvious size differences.

What to Do When You Find an Abnormality

1. Stop the machine or isolate suspect products, tracing back to the time of the last passing check.
2. Find the cause: raw material condition, machine settings, worn parts, operator handling.
3. After correcting, re-sample, and continue production only if it passes.
4. Record the cause, handling, and preventive actions. Article 13 of the regulations requires corrective and preventive actions to be taken and recorded when abnormalities occur.

FAQ

Q: How many pieces should be weighed per batch?
A: The regulations don't set a fixed number; the plant decides and writes it into its operating procedures. For example, weigh a small run in a row at startup, sample at fixed intervals during production, and take extra samples when changing raw materials, shifts, or machine settings.

Q: How long should production records be kept?
A: Article 11 of the Regulations on Good Hygiene Practice for Food requires at least 5 years.

Q: How should the weight acceptance range be set?
A: Considering the declared net weight, the machine's actual variation, product requirements, and cooking consistency, set a target weight plus or minus a tolerance, along with a warning range.

Q: What if a weight check fails?
A: Stop the machine and isolate suspect products, trace back to the last passing check, find and correct the cause, re-sample, and record the corrective and preventive actions.