Business Rules - Food & Beverage

Formal business rules of the Food & Beverage domain. Each rule has a unique identifier, a triggering condition, the required action, and regulatory references. These rules are invariant constraints that must never be violated.

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BR-001 - Lot release requires passing quality control

Condition: A Lot is in in_quarantine status. Rule: The Lot may not transition to approved status unless all scheduled QualityControl checks have been completed with a PASS result and there are no open non-conformances (NC) against it. Consequence of violation: Potential marketing of a non-safe product; breach of BRC v9 §5.4; exposure to RASFF alert. Source: Reg. EC 852/2004 Art. 5; INV-001.

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BR-002 - Only approved lots may be shipped

Condition: A shipment order is created for a Lot. Rule: The Lot must be in approved status before any shipment can be generated or dispatched. A Lot in in_quarantine, recalled, expired, or eliminated status must never be shipped. Consequence of violation: Distribution of unsafe or non-compliant product to the supply chain. Source: Reg. EC 178/2002 Art. 19; BRC v9 §6.1.

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BR-003 - Suppliers must be in the Approved Supplier Register before a purchase order is issued

Condition: A purchase order is generated for a supplier. Rule: The supplier must appear in the Approved Supplier Register with approved status. A suspended or disqualified supplier may not receive new purchase orders until requalified following verified corrective actions. Consequence of violation: Procurement of materials from unverified sources; violation of HACCP prerequisite programmes. Source: Reg. EC 178/2002 Art. 18; BRC v9 §3.5; IFS Food §4.3.

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BR-004 - Food Recall must be notified to the Control Authority within 24 hours of confirmation

Condition: A food safety risk is confirmed on a marketed Lot. Rule: The FoodRecall procedure must be initiated within 4 hours of risk confirmation. Official notification to the Control Authority (Ministry of Health / RASFF) must be sent within 24 hours of the confirmed risk. The batch traceability report must be attached. Consequence of violation: Late notification delays consumer protection and leads to administrative sanctions (Reg. EC 178/2002 Art. 19 para. 3). Source: Reg. EC 178/2002 Art. 19; BRC v9 §3.11; RASFF guidelines.

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BR-005 - Certifications must be valid at the time of lot production

Condition: A Lot is produced with a certified FoodProduct (DOP/IGP/BIO/BRC/IFS). Rule: All Certifications associated with the FoodProduct or production site must be valid (not expired) at the date of lot production. If a Certification expires during production, the lot must be blocked until it is renewed or the declaration is removed from labelling. Consequence of violation: Fraudulent or misleading labelling; violation of Reg. EU 1151/2012 (DOP/IGP) or Reg. EU 2018/848 (BIO). Source: Reg. EU 1151/2012 Art. 12; Reg. EU 2018/848 Art. 33; INV-006.

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BR-006 - Allergen declaration must be complete and accurate on labelling

Condition: A FoodProduct is labelled for retail sale or food service. Rule: All allergens present in the recipe (including from ingredients and cross-contamination) must be declared in the ingredients list using bold, highlighted, or contrasting formatting. No allergen may be omitted even if present in minimal quantities. Consequence of violation: Risk of allergic reaction in consumers; criminal/administrative liability for the Producer. Source: Reg. EU 1169/2011 Art. 21 + Annex II; INV-005.

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BR-007 - Recipe modifications generate a new version

Condition: A change is made to a Recipe (ingredients, quantities, process parameters, suppliers of key raw materials). Rule: Any modification to a Recipe must generate a new version. The previous version must pass to obsolete status but must be retained in the system archive. Lots produced must always reference the Recipe version that was active at the time of production. Retroactive modification of versioned Recipes is prohibited. Consequence of violation: Loss of production history integrity; inability to reconstruct allergen or ingredient composition at the time of a recall. Source: ISO 22000:2018 §8.5.1; BRC v9 §5.2; INV-003.

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BR-008 - HACCP plan must be reviewed after any significant change

Condition: A change occurs to process, product, ingredient, or production environment. Rule: The HACCP plan must be reviewed by the Quality team whenever a significant change occurs (new ingredient, new process, new supplier, plant modification, new safety hazard). The review must produce updated documentation within 30 days of the change. Consequence of violation: Unchecked food safety hazards entering the production process; HACCP system non-compliance. Source: Reg. EC 852/2004 Art. 5; Codex Alimentarius CAC/RCP 1-1969 Rev. 4; ISO 22000:2018 §8.8.