{"id":197,"date":"2015-03-18T14:52:38","date_gmt":"2015-03-18T14:52:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/?p=197"},"modified":"2020-10-28T20:57:30","modified_gmt":"2020-10-28T20:57:30","slug":"the-ou-visit-being-prepared-hosting-it-and-enjoying-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/2015\/03\/18\/the-ou-visit-being-prepared-hosting-it-and-enjoying-it\/","title":{"rendered":"The OU Visit: Being Prepared, Hosting it, and Enjoying it!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Similar to most government inspections, OU visits are unannounced. That means that a plant\u00a0does not start preparing for its OU visit at a specific time; rather, a plant is always preparing and\u00a0is always prepared.<\/p>\n<p>When a plant is in this state of preparedness, OU visits are smooth, and the kosher program is\u00a0basically hassle-free and can actually contribute to the overall quality assurance protocol as a\u00a0welcomed enhancement.<\/p>\n<p>Here are some guidelines, which have proven to be crucial and of inestimable benefit in being\u00a0prepared for OU plant visits and assuring they go smoothly:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Keep a current, updated file of letters of kosher certification for all ingredients. The file\u00a0can be electronic. It is recommended that each document in the file feature or correlate\u00a0with plant raw material codes, and that standard operating procedure include an update\u00a0to this file upon every raw material change.<\/li>\n<li>Schedule A, the OU ingredient list, should likewise be linked with standard operating\u00a0procedure for raw material changes, such that every raw material change includes\u00a0Schedule A clearance.<\/li>\n<li>Schedule A often features ingredients that are certified kosher only when accompanied\u00a0by lot-specified letters of certification. All such ingredients should be noted, with a\u00a0live file for lot-specific letters of certification that covers all current inventory of these\u00a0ingredients.<\/li>\n<li>Ingredients delivered in bulk liquid form are reviewed by the OU rabbinic field<\/li>\n<li>representative (\u201cRFR\u201d) against Schedule A by consulting bills of lading and receiving logs\u00a0when at the plant. Please be sure that there is always someone on hand with ready\u00a0access to this documentation for review by the OU RFR.<\/li>\n<li>When review of temperature data is part of a plant\u2019s kosher program, please be sure that\u00a0there is always someone on hand with ready access to this data.<\/li>\n<li>It is absolutely critical that there be a designated (and knowledgeable!) plant contact\u00a0for OU visits, as well as a backup contact. These contacts should not be clerical staff;\u00a0rather, they should be managerial staff who have an intimate understanding of the\u00a0plant\u2019s operations, and who can readily get information for the RFR when they do not\u00a0already know or have it.<\/li>\n<li>Internal plant formulas should correlate with Schedule A approval. In other words,\u00a0verification that each formula has been cleared with and matches Schedule A should be\u00a0part of standard operating procedure and should be built into the plant\u2019s formula\u00a0system. This is incredibly useful in many ways, and it enables seamless formula review\u00a0by the RFR during OU visits.<\/li>\n<li>Schedule B, the list of OU-certified products, needs to correlate with the development\u00a0of new products and the termination of old products. Standard operating procedure\u00a0for the plant\u2019s product system should feature OU Schedule B approval\/label approval\u00a0for\u00a0every new product, as well as notification to the OU upon every product termination\u00a0and product name\/label change.<\/li>\n<li>If product labels are not arranged in a manner that enables efficient and relatively quick\u00a0on-site auditing, then a current, live collection of all product labels should be organized\u00a0and maintained for review by the OU RFR when visiting.<\/li>\n<li>The plant\u2019s OU visit contact should be sure to inform the RFR upon each visit of all\u00a0recent and anticipated changes in the plant, whether in terms of new ingredients, new\u00a0products, new equipment, or anything else.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These procedures have been proven successful. They prevent kosher errors, enable seamless\u00a0and efficient OU visits, and protect the kosher and overall integrity of a plant\u2019s operations.<\/p>\n<p>RABBI AVROHOM GORDIMER IS A RABBINIC COORDINATOR AT OU KOSHER, SPECIALIZING IN THE\u00a0DAIRY INDUSTRY. HE IS ALSO A MEMBER OF THE NEW YORK BAR, AND LIVES IN MANHATTAN WITH\u00a0HIS WIFE AND CHILDREN.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Similar to most government inspections, OU visits are unannounced. That means that a plant\u00a0does not start preparing for its OU visit at a specific time; rather, a plant is always preparing and\u00a0is always prepared. When a plant is in this state of preparedness, OU visits are smooth, and the kosher program is\u00a0basically hassle-free and can [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.9.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The OU Visit: Being Prepared, Hosting it, and Enjoying it! - Behind the Union Symbol<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/2015\/03\/18\/the-ou-visit-being-prepared-hosting-it-and-enjoying-it\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The OU Visit: Being Prepared, Hosting it, and Enjoying it! - Behind the Union Symbol\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Similar to most government inspections, OU visits are unannounced. That means that a plant\u00a0does not start preparing for its OU visit at a specific time; rather, a plant is always preparing and\u00a0is always prepared. 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