Food safety acts have significantly impacted food manufacturers globally, with new regulations meant to ensure a safe food chain. As these changes have taken effect, manufacturers are re-evaluating their sensor solutions. Many are turning to smart sensors with remote temperature monitoring and data logging capabilities to help them identify food hazards quickly and avoid costly recalls, and to meet documentation requirements in an efficient manner.
With changes in global legislation and safety requirements, companies are now required to engage in a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) analysis in order to ascertain conditions that can impact food safety. A very common hazard is temperature change within a food plant or food storage facility, where even a small change in climate could open the door for pathogens to grow and contaminate the food.
As another example, if the pasteurisation process in eggs does not reach the proper levels of heat, pathogens like salmonella may not be fully eradicated from the raw material. After identifying these hazards, it is then up to the manufacturer to define methodologies, establish a plan, and manage preventive controls to mitigate the risks.
In addition to requiring a closer examination of food safety practices, manufacturers are also required to maintain documentation of their monitoring of data as evidence of having implemented effective hazard control. Traditionally, many food manufacturers have relied on intermittent condition monitoring; however, this method limits visibility into food safety hazards and makes it very difficult to satisfy documentation requirements.
New challenges for food manufacturers
New and changing requirements pose a number of challenges for food manufacturers. For one, food plants need to be able to monitor conditions like temperature continuously, and be able to access the historical logs in order to make data-driven food safety decisions over time. In addition, manual documentation demands time and resources, which can be costly. In order to meet these demands, food and beverage manufacturers require temperature sensing solutions that cannot only accurately detect potentially dangerous temperature increases, but also allow for real-time condition monitoring and long-term logging of process data. Another challenge is that many facilities and production lines installed before the FSMA was established have limited hardwired infrastructure for monitoring and data logging, making it difficult and costly to retrofit a hardwired solution. Due to these challenges, the demand for wireless temperature sensors has increased.
Benefits of smart temperature sensors for food safety
There are many benefits when choosing a smart sensor solution with wireless remote monitoring and data logging capabilities. Four of the most important benefits are: fast and cost-effective deployment, automated documentation, real-time alerts, and dynamic monitoring of faults. Together these benefits help ensure compliance with national and global legistation requirements, help reduce incidence of product recall, and can have a long-term positive impact on the bottom line.
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