Maintaining food safety from farm to fork

Food and beverage manufacturers want and have to provide safe products. But some -- big and small companies -- have failed to keep a clean track record. Just recently, there was an outbreak of Hepatitis A in Hawaii, where about 168 diners at Genki Sushi restaurants reportedly fell ill after consuming frozen scallops imported from the Philippines.

In July, General Mills in the US recalled batches of its popular Gold Medal flour, Wondra flour, and Signature Kitchens, believed to have caused an outbreak of E. coli O121 in several states. While General Mills said those who were affected consumed the flour raw.

In April, store-bought sweets believed to have been contaminated with pesticides claimed 23 lives in Pakistan.

The list goes on, and as it shows, despite best efforts in the processing of food or beverage, cross contamination can still occur, and not just in any point of the production stage, but outside the manufacturing plant – at the retailer’s, during transport, and also with consumers.

But let’s consider the production floor. There are standard methods to prevent contamination, starting of course with compliance with food safety programs to ensure sanitation and hygiene in work and production areas, strict monitoring of ingredients and supplies, safe use of appropriate and well-maintained machinery and equipment, and so on.  If one of these is not followed, the whole idea of processing and packaging food (which is to ensure they are safe to consume) would mean nothing.

Food safety programs include the HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) Plan development pre-requisite programs such as current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) and Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures (SSOP), which assure food safety. Tracking the supply chain is a must, and knowing your customers’ safety standards and other requirements is a given, and should be understood by everyone in your company.  

At the factory, ensuring the safety of workers is of course crucial, and practicing good hygiene should be second nature to them. The machinery they operate should not only provide smooth but contamination-free operation as well. Machinery and parts have to be maintained regularly. While many new machines have smooth surfaces and are built with few crevices, those with nooks and crannies have to be thoroughly sanitized after every use to prevent food or material buildup and bacteria from harboring in these spaces.

Loose or worn parts can compromise efficiency aside from food safety. Take conveyor belts, for instance. Every facility has a system to transport raw (wet or dry), semi-finished, packaged products, from one process to another. As essential as it is in a production floor, a conveyor system is subject to wear and tear no matter how light or small the product that they transport. Needless to say, if left to expand, rips and tears can disrupt the flow and become areas for microbial growth. But with the right tools and accessories like belt cleaners and fasteners, manufacturers can maintain the safety and hygiene of their conveyors.

After products are moved out of the production plant, manufacturers must have peace of mind that their products are transported well. This goes without saying for logistics companies. They have to be aware of their clients’ requirements and have to maintain the integrity of products as these are released from the factory up to point on consumption. They have to be equipped with modern tracking systems, delivery with ideal temperature control, decent and well-maintained warehouses and storage that would protect every product, and ideally provide customers with cost benefits.  Meanwhile, retailers also have their inspection systems and should reject products that do not pass their QC.

So if this is the case, where food safety is checked from the start to finish, what happens along the way? Maybe human error, negligence, failure of equipment, or lack of personnel to do the inspection. Whatever it is, food and beverage companies just have to step up their quality inspection, audit their suppliers, invest in the right tools and equipment, as well as in worker training and skills. As every manufacturer knows, it takes just one mistake to tarnish a brand, and consumers don't forget that easily.