PRODUCTION PROCESS — CANNED SALMON

The production process for canned salmon is as per the following sequence of steps:

1. Catching & Transporting
The salmon are typically caught using large seine boats equipped with a purse seine net, and are transported to the cannery by the boats in refrigerated sea water (RSW).

2. Unloading, Sorting & Weighing
The fish are removed from the vessel hold(s) by vacuum pump discharging onto an elevator, conveyor and sorting belt. Incidental species in the load are sorted into totes located adjacent to the conveyor, while the main specie in the load are discharged into totes which are first weighed by the Tallyman, and well iced while held prior to processing.

3. Inspection Of The Raw Fish
Fish from each hold of the vessel are taken off the conveyor at the time of unloading by a Quality Control Technician, the temperatures of the fish are measured, and the fish are inspected both internally and externally to assess the fish quality. Findings and observations are recorded on the Landing Report. Experienced salmon grading personnel sort the fish as to species at the time of unloading.

4. Butchering & Washing
The fish are “cannery butchered” by mechanical equipment, that is: head removed, fins & tail removed, gutted (eviscerated), and the belly cavity washed. The fish are also manually inspected at this point to ensure that salmon species are not mixed and that the fish are free of “defects”, and the fish also sorted as to grade prior to canning.

5. Cutting & Filling
The cannery-butchered fish are fed into a filling machine that cuts the fish into transverse sections and fills it into the empty cans. Only ordinary salt is added to the empty cans (1.0% to 1.5% salt by weight) prior to filling. Nothing else is added to the canned salmon. The liquid in the can is natural liquid that cooks-out from the fish flesh.

6. Weighing & Patching
After the cans are filled, the cans pass over a checkweigher and onto a “patching” (inspection) table. Cans which are underweight are adjusted, and all cans are checked and adjusted for appearance defects including mixed salmon species.

7. Closing & Seaming
Immediately after the patching table, the lid (with an embossed code) is put onto the can by the “clincher” and the double-seam is formed in a vacuum-seaming machine. The seamed cans, which typically have 10 to 12 inches of vacuum, are then checked for leakage using electronic dud detectors, and loaded into large buggies for heat processing. The mean net weight of the cans is checked by Quality Control personnel at the end of the canning line prior to heat processing. For 1-lb cans the mean net weight is 418 grams, for ½-lb cans the mean net weight is 213 grams, and for ¼-lb cans the mean net weight is 106 grams.

8. Heat Processing
The buggies of cans are loaded into large double-ended retorts (steam pressure vessels) which are first “vented” (purged of all entrapped air and pre-warmed) for a minimum of 18 minutes and a minimum temperature of 225F, and heat processed for 100 minutes at 245F for 1-lb (418g) 301x408 tapered cans, for 70 minutes at 245F for ½-lb (213g) 307x200.25 tapered cans, or 43 minutes at 245F for ¼-lb (106g) 301x106 straight-wall cans, as per National Food Processors Association (NFPA) Bulletin No.26-L.

9. Cooling, Palletizing & Warehousing
Following heat processing, the steam is turned-off and the pressure is reduced, the doors on the retort are opened, and the cans are spray cooled with chlorinated cooling water which has a minimum 2 ppm residual chlorine after a contact time of 20 minutes. (The cans are only cooled to approximately 140F such that sufficient heat remains in the cans so that they will dry and not rust.) The buggies are tipped to remove excess residual water, and the buggies allowed to stand until the cans are cool and dry. The cooled cans are then brite-stacked (palletized unlabelled), the pallets are labelled and wrapped with plastic stretch-wrap, and then transported by truck to Canfisco's warehouse.

10. Product Inspection
It is a regulatory requirement that all canned salmon packed in Canada be inspected to ensure that only acceptable quality product enters into commercial trade. Canadian regulations also require that canned salmon be held in the packers warehouse for a minimum of 10 days prior to shipment of the product. Accordingly, the Quality Control Department at Canfisco takes samples of every code packed for sensory evaluation as a check on product quality. This final product check includes both sensory characteristics and appearance defects, including the presence of mixed species.

11. Screening & Labelling
Canfisco’s canned salmon HACCP plan identifies Product Screening via Checkweigher (CW) and Double Dud Detector (DDD) as a Critical Control Point (CCP) for identifying and removing defective cans. Accordingly, all canned salmon packed by Canfisco is screened according to the criteria specified by the CFIA Screening Protocol to ensure that all shipments comply with Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards for container integrity. Product Screening is an integral part of the labelling line process that includes application of “Best Before” dates, carton labelling, and pre-shipment final product inspection.

12. Commitment To Quality
Canfisco is committed to producing safe, wholesome and high quality products; and is also committed to operating in compliance with accepted international Good Manufacturing Practice standards. To achieve these objectives, Canfisco has developed and implemented a Quality Assurance Program which is designed specifically for Canfisco products and processes, and which meets the product specifications of its customers.

13. Registration Of Facilities
All of Canfisco’s facilities in Canada are registered with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and operate with an approved Quality Management Program (QMP) that fully complies with HACCP principles. For further information on the Canadian QMP program and Food Inspection Regulations, please refer to the CFIA web site at www.cfia-acia.agr.ca . For further information about Canfisco, please consult our corporate web site: www.canfisco.com.