Looking back pre-pandemic, it’s safe to say that the e-commerce food and retail delivery industry was growing at an impressive rate, with consumers ordering meals and groceries online for the sake of comfort and convenience through apps such as GrubHub, Uber Eats, and others. However, with consumers sheltering in place as a result of COVID-19 and generally spending more time at home amidst varying levels of lockdown restrictions around the world, it’s no surprise that the resulting effects on consumer buying habits have increased e-commerce by an incredible 44% in 2020, as highlighted in a recent report by Digital Commerce 360. It’s also no surprise that this placed a significant demand on the food and retail supply chain to keep up with the spike in consumer demand.

The numbers are quite telling from a commercial performance perspective, considering that in-store retail sales grew from $3.7 billion in 2019 to $4.04 billion in 2020, representing a 6.9% increase. At the same time, e-commerce sales jumped from $598 billion in 2019 to $861 billion in 2020, a staggering 44% increase that Digital Commerce 360’s report attributes directly to the pandemic.

Growth is a positive thing for the food and retail industry. The e-commerce effect of the pandemic has given organizations the ideal situation to embrace new and innovative ways of fulfilling the growing demand for online orders from more discerning consumers who expect high quality and safe goods in shorter times. However, this dramatic increase in the demand for e-commerce, specifically for food and groceries, has presented the food industry with specific and important challenges, from the health, safety, and well-being of essential workers in distribution centers and behind the wheel of the delivery vehicles delivering parcels and packages every minute of every day worldwide to the safe and sanitary transportation of temperature-sensitive grocery items and prepared meals.

The Last Mile

What does this increase in consumer demand for e-commerce food and groceries mean for the “last mile” industry? First, we need to define the “last mile” industry. It is those essential organizations that operate throughout the supply chain process—everything from the ordering of the goods online to resource planning, warehouse staff, fulfillment centers, packaging, and transportation partners, from trucks to drones, on down to the “last mile” of each product’s final destination.

We know that the logistics of transporting and storing refrigerated groceries involves an intricate process to confirm that precise hygiene and safety conditions are met throughout every step of the supply chain, from receipt to delivery at the designated destination.

To highlight the importance of food safety in the last mile industry, Frank Yiannas, FDA’s deputy commissioner for food policy and response, conducted an insightful interview last year on the impact of the pandemic on consumer buying habits. Yiannas said that part of the work involved with FDA’s “New Era of Smarter Food Safety,” an initiative designed to create a more digital, more traceable, and safer food system, involves dealing with the reality of e-commerce as more and more consumers order foods online that are delivered right to their door. “We have been considering what steps we need to take to ensure the safety of those foods in how they are produced, packaged, and transported,” he added. “When we first started talking about this, we were anticipating that 20% of groceries would be ordered online by 2023. That benchmark may have been blown out of the water by consumers sheltering in place. I don’t see that trend reversing when the crisis has passed.”

The Importance of Standards

This insight highlights the need for more to be done to support organizations operating throughout this last mile industry, especially for refrigerated delivery service providers. These providers have a clearly defined business risk management framework that specifies the provisions and operations for all stages, from acceptance of a chilled or frozen parcel to its delivery at the final destination.

The industry highlighted the need for this best practice framework in 2017 with the publication of the publicly available specification PAS 1018:2017—“Specification for indirect, temperature-controlled refrigerated delivery services. Land transport of refrigerated parcels with intermediate transfer.” Since its publication, the standard has been adopted by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and incorporated into a new standard published last year, ISO 23412:2020 : Indirect, temperature-controlled refrigerated delivery services — Land transport of parcels with intermediate transfer.

This standard provides organizations within the global last mile industry an internationally recognized and harmonized framework that demonstrates industry best practices to ensure that temperature-sensitive products are stored and distributed safely in order to protect the end consumer. The standard provides a practical breakdown of the essential elements of process management and risk control of temperature-sensitive products for last mile businesses by clearly articulating terms and definitions, refrigerated delivery attributes, acceptable conditions for operating sites, refrigerated enclosures, cold stores and cooling materials, transportation networks, geographical routing systems through to information exchange, the acceptance and transfer of chilled or frozen parcels, up to the final delivery of the parcel to its final destination.

An example of how industry sectors have leveraged and benefited from the use of ISO standards in the past would be cargo or freight containers that industries rely on to transport their goods around the globe. When containers were initially adopted as a means for shipping, there were many different sizes, types, and corner fittings used. This presented a variety of risks and challenges to the transport industry; the various types of containers, all with different dimensions and design specifications, being loaded onto cargo ships, railcars, and truck beds, caused a high number of cargo containers to become loose and fall off.

As a result, in August 1989, British Standards Institution (BSI) published BS (British Standard) 3951-1-1: Freight containers, General, specification for Series 1 freight containers: Classification, dimensions and ratings, which was adopted by ISO in April 1996 as ISO 668: “Series 1 freight containers—Classification, dimensions, and ratings.” This standard has been updated over the years and is still used to ensure that all cargo and freight containers meet the internationally adopted classification, dimensions, and ratings, so now the various types of containers are all manufactured to the same specifications and fit on cargo ships, railcars, and truck beds like Lego pieces.

Continued Protection

The e-commerce and last mile industries are growing at an exciting pace. And, throughout the last mile industry, those risks that are present today related to the safe and hygienic distribution of temperature-sensitive groceries can be managed through the use of standards to better protect the products and consumers for tomorrow. Consider standards as a method that describes the best way of doing something, such as manufacturing a product, supplying materials, and managing a process or behavior. Voluntary and consensus-based standards are the distilled wisdom of people with expertise in their subject matter, experts who know the needs of the industries and organizations they represent.

Coole is director of food and retail supply chain at BSI Americas. Reach him at neil.coole@bsigroup.com.

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FDA’s National Retail Food Team releases new posters that focus on proper holding practices for cold prepared food and adequate cooking temperatures for turkey and ground beef. These posters were created as part of the FDA’s efforts to enhance food safety training at the retail level by helping employees better understand their role in preventing foodborne illnesses, particularly among vulnerable populations.

The following information is being conveyed:

• The Importance of Date Marking posters demonstrate the significance of the proper retention period for prepared foods as indicated in the Food Code, §3-501.17 Ready-to-Eat, Time/Temperature Control for Safety Food, Date Marking. Date marking in retail food settings is the mechanism by which the Food Code requires active managerial control of the temperature and time combinations for cold holding as a way to reduce or eliminate the growth and spread of foodborne illness causing bacteria.
• Adequate Cooking Temperature posters explain the importance of bringing poultry (whole and ground) and ground beef to the correct temperature as a way to reduce or eliminate foodborne illness-causing bacteria that may be on meat or poultry as indicated in  the Food Code, §3-401.11 Raw Animal Foods.

The English language version of the posters are currently available on the Educational Materials for Retail Food Employees website and can be downloaded and printed.

Additional versions of these posters will be available in weeks to come. These include two-sided posters with English on one side and Spanish, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Korean, or Hindi on the other.

These posters support the FDA’s Retail Food Safety Initiative, which seeks to strengthen the retail and food service industry’s control and reduction of foodborne illness risk factors. The agency encourages industry operators, food safety educators/trainers, and federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial regulatory officials to take full advantage of these materials, which are available free of charge at the FDA Educational Materials for Retail Food Employees website.

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Those of us in the food industry have all seen the ill-fated clipboard tracking temperature outside of the walk-in cold food storage unit. Historically, monitoring food temperatures in refrigerators has been conducted manually, adhering to a schedule and tracking the temperature at intervals on a piece of paper. But what happens when the employee tasked with monitoring the hourly temperature gets delayed? What if they just plain forget?

I’ve seen employees who have forgotten to track the temperature throughout the day and fill in the end-of-day temperature for the entire day. They’re running the risk that if there was a spike in temperature outside of safe ranges during the day, the entire contents of the cold storage unit could be ruined, but they wouldn’t know it because they didn’t check the temperature. Not only is it wasting food and money, but it’s also putting consumers, real people, at risk.

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Fridge temperature (iStockphoto)

(Editor’s Note: This is an online-only article attributed to the April/May 2018 issue.)

According to a 2017 report by the National Restaurant Association, turnover in the hospitality industry—sometimes referred to as the “quits rate”—topped 70 percent for the second consecutive year. This means that restaurant staffers, both in the front and the back of the house, must be replaced about every six to eight months.

There was a significant decline in the turnover rate during the Great Recession. The reasons for this were likely because there were fewer jobs in the industry overall and those who were lucky enough to have a job kept it.

But times are different now. Because the economy is doing much better, many staffers keep their eyes open for new opportunities and are quick to jump ship when they find them. Further, restaurants hire a significant number of teenagers and students. Invariably, many of these employees work on a temporary basis, due to school and other factors.

Don’t forget that seasonal staffing is common in the restaurant industry. A resort-area restaurant in Michigan, for example, may be bustling during the summer months, but have few customers in the winter. Obviously, this will impact how many employees are working at the property throughout the year.

Whatever the reasons, turnover creates challenges for restaurant owners and managers. And, one of the most significant challenges that must stay at the top of the list is food safety.

When a whole new crew comes on board, all must often be taught some fundamental food safety rules, whether the employees stay for six months or six years. And many of the most critical safety concerns, especially if workers are involved with food handling and preparation, revolve around food temperatures: freezing, chilling, unfreezing, and cooling food after it has been cooked, all in an attempt to prevent bacteria growth.

The following are some of the most important of these temperature safety rules that “newbies” should be aware of.

Fridge Temperatures

The U.S. FDA mandates that refrigerated products be kept at 41 degrees Fahrenheit or colder and frozen foods at 0 degrees Fahrenheit or colder. Staff should also know that chilled food should be placed in the fridge or freezer as soon as it is delivered. If the temperature of chilled food tops 40 degrees Fahrenheit, known as the “danger zone,” or frozen food is allowed to thaw before being placed in the freezer, food-poisoning bacteria may grow.

Pathogenic Bacteria

Food contaminated with pathogenic microorganisms usually looks fine, may taste great, and can smell very inviting. However, pathogenic bacteria in food can cause various health risks, from mild indigestion to severe food poisoning. In many cases, this type of bacteria develops when food is left out too long to cool and reaches temperatures above 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

Cold-Loving Bacteria

What may come as a surprise to many new staffers is that certain types of bacteria thrive in cold temperatures. Referred to as psychrophilic (cold-loving) bacteria, these microorganisms can grow slowly at very cold temperatures. This usually does not result in food spoilage.

However, once food that has been contaminated with psychrophilic microorganisms is left out to unfreeze for cooking, the bacteria can begin to grow, and grow very fast. The best way to prevent this growth is to allow the food to unfreeze in the refrigerator, instead of on a counter, and keep continuous tabs on the food’s temperature while it is unfreezing.

Storage Issues

Ready-to-eat food may be delivered to a commercial kitchen fresh but could become contaminated when it is placed in the fridge or freezer. What your staff needs to know is that these food items should be wrapped and placed in a separate area in the freezer/fridge to avoid contamination. Additionally, the food should be date-coded to make sure it is used within the recommended period.

Power Failures

One of the most important concerns when it comes to food temperatures is what to do if there is a power failure. When the power first goes out, do not open the freezer. Usually, the food will remain safe in the freezer for up to 48 hours. However, here are some guidelines staff should know:

• If the food is still frozen, leave it in the freezer or look for an alternative freezer;
• If the food has begun to defrost, allow it to continue, and then cook it as soon as possible;
• Fully defrosted or thawed food, such as raw meat, fish, or poultry, should be cooked immediately—then it can be re-frozen; and
• Food that has thawed, if not cooked, must be discarded.

Most of these issues can be addressed, ensuring food is safe and healthy, if food temperatures are regularly monitored. Traditionally, this has been accomplished by manually checking fridge/freezer temperatures or the temperatures of food that has been left out to unfreeze or cool after cooking. These checks should then be followed by a staffer who prepares hand-recorded logs.

However, because monitoring food temperatures is so crucial, it may not be a good idea to turn this responsibility over to a new employee. It can be automated for both new and long-term staffers. Systems that continuously monitors food temperature using temperature probes are ideal. These systems can deliver results to a monitor or dashboard and be recorded and logged. Alerts for irregularities (such as when food left out for unfreezing has entered the danger zone) can be emailed to kitchen staffers.

Restaurant and food service business owners and managers are well-aware of the importance of food safety. This importance must be stressed to new workers during training. Unfortunately, due to high worker turnover, this education is an ongoing effort. Food temperature issues are just too important to be ignored.

Sharek is category manager of facility-employee safety at DayMark Safety Systems. Reach him at esharek@cmcgp.com.

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Image Credit: © jurgen falchle – Fotolia.com

While food service providers are charged to take tasty products to market that customers will love, they are tasked to do so with customer safety as their primary ingredient.

Recommended temperatures are often associated with the cooking process, but that’s only one step for which food service providers must account in the supply chain—consistently maintaining recommended temperatures is equally important in storage and prep areas, for example, to truly maximize safety precautions.

The food industry now has more robust technology and improved temperature-monitoring instruments than ever before to help protect customers from dangerous illnesses. Integrating these resources into a comprehensive safety strategy will help drive higher safety standards, as well as compliance with regulatory and industry regulations. In addition, food service professionals that turn to newer technologies can automate key processes to achieve a variety of business benefits.

Benefiting from the Cloud, Wi-Fi

For fast-paced and high-volume operations, recordkeeping can be particularly challenging. Technology partners to the food service industry, however, have recently introduced user-friendly technologies that help ensure more accurate information is consistently captured and maintained for the future.

Cloud-based technologies, in particular, are increasingly helping food service providers keep records and maintain compliance with higher levels of efficiency, accuracy, and confidence. That’s because the cloud enables temperature records to be securely stored in an electronic format and accessed whenever the need arises. And when cloud computing is integrated with wireless temperature monitoring devices, food service providers can take greater control of their safety and compliance strategies.

The Comark Cloud, for example, utilizes Wi-Fi-equipped devices to automate temperature monitoring and recordkeeping across the spectrum of food service operations. Wireless devices are placed in crucial areas—like freezers, coolers, prep stations, and displays—to continuously monitor temperature conditions of the environment, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. When temperatures rise or fall outside of preset safety zones, the system notifies staff of the unsafe conditions via alarm, email, and text message alerts so that proper protocol can be followed to bring the environment back into suitable conditions.

From safety and compliance perspectives, the benefits of this type of automated system are obvious because the technology helps ensure food is maintained in recommended temperature environments to minimize the risk of illness.

Wireless and cloud-based systems can bring about even greater advantages from business and operational standpoints. They can prevent large amounts of temperature-sensitive inventories from being spoiled—and written off as a financial loss to the company—when freezing, cooling, or heating systems unexpectedly go awry or completely fail.

Handheld Safety

The newest generation of handheld temperature-monitoring devices is also bolstering food safety protocols and compliance strategies. By integrating smart technologies into these instruments—and synching them with easy-to-use software—these handheld instruments provide value and capture robust data that is crucial to regulatory and governing bodies.

For instance, Comark recently developed the handheld HACCP Touch to drive greater efficiencies in temperature collection and help ensure key compliance-related tasks are quickly designated to their proper channels—and that any action related to those tasks is recorded for future reference. Using handhelds like these, product temperatures are recorded at critical moments during the life of a food product, including at receiving, storage, preparation, cooking, and handling.

Corrective-action commands can also be programmed, which gives rapid guidance to staff when it determines a temperature has fallen outside of a specified range. This capability empowers a user to quickly take approved—and compliant—steps when a situation requires it.

The new handheld generation is also designed for volume, capable of recording up to 65,000 temperature readings.

Waterproofing and Antimicrobial Agents

Not to be outdone by data loggers and recorders, measurement devices are also innovating by utilizing waterproofing solutions and antimicrobial agents to add an important second line of defense to support existing hygiene procedures.

Waterproof exteriors serve as pseudo force field to the temperature probe while antimicrobial agents added to the instrument’s plastic coating support bacteria breakdown—stopping their reproduction, therefore inhibiting growth, and ultimately reducing the risk of spreading harmful microorganisms.

These two coating advances provide additional peace of mind in knowing the instruments and probes themselves are contributing to the fight against harmful bacteria and other microorganisms.

All About Automation

What comes next in the life of temperature monitoring? The answer is automation—actually, automation is already here, and it’s changing the game for the food service industry.

The introduction of cloud computing, Wi-Fi-enabled, and software components help automate many tasks that are currently performed manually.

Instead of relying on staff members to check temperatures at assigned timeframes, smarter systems that continuously monitor and record temperatures—and those that capture records digitally instead of in paper logs—bolster consistency and accuracy.

Records can be pulled in real time via computer or even smartphone from a user-friendly dashboard. Historical records can also be pulled from a secure digital archive.

In recent years, temperature monitoring has relied largely on people. As with any manual task, human error can affect data consistency, quality, and accuracy of that work, and in the case of monitoring, result in inadequate or unsafe conditions.

With wireless and paperless temperature monitoring solutions, however, automation drastically reduces the chances for human error to occur. In addition to more accurate records, an automated system allows for constant monitoring, expectations that are far too time-consuming and costly to expect of a manual monitor.

Facilities are alerted to the slightest fluctuation in temperature, an essential component to reducing the risk of compromised products and spoilage. Digitally archived reports are easy to reference and track over time. They also create an audit trail should any regulatory questions arise.

Facility managers can find peace of mind knowing temperatures are safely and accurately aligned with regulatory standards, and executives can focus their attention on other areas of the business, like sales, innovation, and manufacturing.

Food safety is highly dependent upon safe temperatures, which is why it’s crucial to ensure temperature monitoring from the supply chain to the customer is accurate and consistent. As temperature monitoring technology diversifies and becomes more accessible—and more widely utilized—across the industry, foodborne illnesses and regulatory concerns can be reduced drastically. But food service providers must be sure they are partnering with credible resources that understand the multidisciplinary approach required to achieving safety standards and compliance requirements.

Dr. Wilcock serves as the general manager for Comark, part of the Fluke Corp., overseeing expansion, structural change, and proposition development. Reach him at + 44 (0) 207 942 0712.

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The Thermapen Mk4 provides full readings in only 2 to 3 seconds. Users can hold it in any direction and the display automatically rotates right side up so users can read it in any position. The Mk4 knows when it’s dark and turns on the backlight, making it easy to read at dusk or in complete darkness with maximum battery life. Or users can simply touch the sensor window anytime with finger and the display lights up. Leave the probe open and the Mk4 stays on while in use. Set it down, and Sleep Mode saves battery power. Waterproof to IP67. ThermoWorks, 801-756-7705, www.thermoworks.com.

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Serco Vertical Storing Dock Levelers directly ­contribute to environmental efficiency, security, and cleanliness.

For the most wide-ranging advice on cold chain management, a membership in the Global Cold Chain Alliance (GCCA), based in Alexandria, Va., might be a good first move. “It’s critical that all parties work together to insure the maintenance of proper temperatures from the point of production to the point of the consumer,” says GCCA president, Corey Rosenbusch. “It’s our mission to promote that cause.”

With an eight-year tenure at GCCA, and a membership encompassing stakeholders from 67 countries, Rosenbusch is conversant in the scope of the mission, the challenges, and the innovations to that end.

One growing concern is the needs of infrastructure—domestic and international.

Internationally, the concern involves the growth of the middle class in countries like China and India, and the inherent increase in demand for higher quality food products. “You’ve got apples that come (refrigerated) all the way from Washington state that come off a container ship and then sit in the sun because they don’t have the temperature control infrastructure in place.” The challenge is trying to coordinate successful export to markets where they are not quite ready to receive and distribute the product.

Domestically, there is burgeoning interest in automation due to increasing labor costs and expanded environmental regulations. “We’re watching this very closely with the increased pressure, particularly here in the U.S.,” says Rosenbusch. Though as yet, he observes that, unlike the European Union, the U.S. is lagging behind in the adoption of automation for cold chain management.

At the same time, Americans love their gadgets. The most important technological changes Rosenbusch has witnessed involve product tracking and warehouse management systems. “There’s no paper anymore,” he says. “It’s all radio frequency tags [RFID].” This enables a customer to have real-time electronic data interchange regarding location and relative condition of product.

Not all the GCCA has to offer is broad in scope. For example, Rosenbusch just recently talked one of his members off a ledge after an ammonia leak (ammonia is a commonly used refrigerant). “Leaks only happen on rare occasions, but it’s a real crisis.” And GCCA has a step-by-step plan in place to deal with such a crisis—removal of ammonia, evaluation of potentially exposed product, etc.

Automation, Infrastructure

Having the experience of building automated infrastructure, Gavin Sargeant, vice-president automation, Conestoga Cold Storage, Ontario, Calif., can comment on the slow uptake in the U.S. “Automation is the predominant method of cold storage in the E.U., but it’s hard to get off the ground in the U.S. due to the capital expenditures,” says Sargeant.

And it can be risky. “If you don’t know what you’re doing, even if an otherwise successful company invests in it and makes a mistake, it can be catastrophic.”

Beyond capital outlay, the risk is in the initial design. For instance, if an automated cold storage facility doesn’t account for product throughput you had in mind, you can’t add more people and equipment to scale up. “You don’t have that ability in an automated facility that’s incorrectly designed—if the fundamental design of the system is incorrect, you’re done.”

Thus, third-party automated storage. “We determine our clients throughput needs, we design and manufacture the automated equipment, we build the buildings…they don’t have the risk.” And running the show is Conestoga software. “We hold our software very close to our hearts because that’s key to the success of the tracking, throughput, and reliability of the system,” says Sargeant.

Tech Trak

Perhaps there’s been no bigger and ongoing impact on the industry than radio frequency identification (RFID). According to the just published report, “Strategic Analysis of Global RFID in Cold Chain Market,” (Frost and Sullivan, Mountain View, Calif.) the estimated revenue from RFIDs in the cold chain market was $361.6 million in 2012, and this use is projected to expand by 27.5 percent through 2017.

What’s driving the increase (besides simple utility)? Responding to the question via email, Nandini Bhattacharya, Frost and Sullivan analyst stated, “The FDA mandates that value chain participants track and keep a record of the product temperature history…and they have the authority to penalize those who do not comply. This is pushing all the value chain participants to adopt and implement RFID.”

Xylem’s ebro brand of data loggers offers critical visibility of the storage and transport conditions over time.

This trend is not lost on Ray Caron, vice president of marketing and business development at DeltaTRAK, Pleasanton, Calif., a purveyor of RFID technology. For several years the company has been promoting the ColdTRAK system, a cloud-based application, available by subscription, for retrieving, analyzing, and sharing temperature data. The application enables viewing of trip data within minutes of the product reaching its destination.

More recently, DeltaTRAK has launched the ThermoTrace, TTI (Time and Temperature Indicator). “This combines two well understood technologies,” explains Caron, those being the ubiquitous barcode, and, a bit less common, a chemical label that is physically altered by an environmental change. In this case, the chemical expands and migrates, altering the barcode. The combination of technologies results in a single-use TTI label that changes the barcode when exposed to temperatures exceeding a given threshold.

“The data can be retrieved by any barcode reader, or now, even smartphones,” Caron says, and it can be integrated into any existing cold chain program.

Carrier’s trailer refrigeration model 7500 from the X4 belt-driven series benefits from ecoFORWARD technology.

Reefer Gladness

In keeping with the adage, “necessity is the mother of invention,” refrigerated transport (reefer) units for trucks have been recently improved. The necessity in this circumstance is being supplied by the impending deadline for compliance with the EPA’s Tier IV emission standards for diesel engines; in response, the invention is a suite of technology improvements called, EcoFORWARD, launched last year by Carrier Transicold, Matawan, N.J., a provider in refrigerated transport systems.

“What started out as a compliance project turned into an opportunity for fleets and customers,” says Transicold’s director of marketing, David Kiefer. As Kiefer explains, rather than just tweak existing systems, why not look at compliance as a byproduct of improved performance. “We figured as long as we have to redesign the equipment, lets do it top to bottom.”

The results of the extra time and effort are high-efficiency refrigeration components with smarter (2.2-liter diesel) engines, operating under the watchful eye of, and controlled by a distributed electronics “APX” system. “The computer is talking to the engine and all the other high-efficiency components to make sure it all runs optimally,” Kiefer says. The APX even has a USB dock to facilitate data downloads.

EcoFORWARD technology has enabled the reduction of a unit’s need of engine power by up to 20 percent, while improving cooling capacity by as much as 10 percent. Further, the units are lighter and use 24 percent less refrigerant. “Altogether, not only are you compliant with better capacity, but units consume less fuel, and that’s better for the environment.”

Temping

To keep track of the environment your products been living in, consider investing in a few data loggers. These small devices, like the ones from ebro, a division of Xylem Analytics, Beverly, Mass., operate wirelessly, will automatically notify the user in case of a temperature excursion, and, once uploaded, the data can be accessed from anywhere with an Internet connection.

“It’s a very simple system,” says Robert Teich, managing director at ebro, “You don’t need extra software, it’s easy to configure…” Teich acknowledges that the unit may not be for everybody—some companies lack the necessary IT infrastructure, or, alternately, it may be the case that third-party logistics are too diverse, harder to organize; in these circumstances the standalone version of the data logger is advised.

Either way, the technology is on the order of standard practice in Europe, says Teich (based in Ingolstadt, Germany). “It’s funny, the FDA came up with this great concept of HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) but had few ideas about implementing or enforcing it.” Taking the regulatory lead, such policies abroad mean it’s common in Germany and other countries to have data loggers within a walk-in refrigerator in stores and restaurants.

It’s been Teich’s observation that temperature recording in non-transport situations is often done with a handheld thermometer, with results recorded by hand. Perhaps the recently passed Food Safety Act is applying the needed pressure for change, as Teich notes an uptick in his sales. “We see more interest now in smaller stores and restaurants in the U.S. for data loggers,” he says. “You always have that complete digital record, so anytime a food inspector comes you have an automated report that you can quickly produce.”

Dock Worker

All the technology in the world won’t help you if someone left the door open, thus, the vertical storing dock leveler, such as those made by Dock Products Canada, Inc., Ontario. Steve Kalbfleisch, director of Canadian sales, explains, “Instead of storing a leveler in a position parallel to the floor, this one stands straight up behind the overhead motor.” Among other things, this provides for a better seal than conventional levelers. “This preserves cooling and conserves energy because the overhead door comes down to the bottom of the pit as opposed to say the top of the leveler where you have all kinds of gaps.”

Recently added to the standard vertical dock offering is the new Serco Thermal Guard Package that allows for truck doors to be opened from inside the building after the truck is positioned at the door, thereby retaining the thermal seal at the dock.

“People are becoming far more conscious of energy consumption,” says Kalbfleisch, “so with that in mind, we’re recommending the appropriate equipment for our customers to help them reach that goal.”

Canavan is a science/medical writer based in Brooklyn, N.Y. Reach him at ncanavan@hotmail.com.

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A young food worker raises his hand in class and asks if it is really necessary to put raw potatoes in the dishwasher before he cooks them. The instructor looks at him quizzically and says, “No, why, are you doing that at work?”

The young man says that yes, his boss makes everyone put raw potatoes through the dishwasher cycle before they cook them. When asked why, the young man replies, “Because my boss’s mother did it that way.” The practice is engrained in his boss’s brain regardless of the reason behind it. And, whether the practice is compromising the quality of the potatoes or not, the important message about properly washing produce is lost in translation.

Food safety is often like that. Industry and regulators are all working hard trying to do a good job, with the shared goal of protecting the public. But we don’t always speak the same language, and we often look at issues from different perspectives with different priorities. Due to miscommunication, cultural differences, or language barriers, the reasons behind certain food safety practices are not always clear.

On one side of the fence, regulators are trying to enforce the food code in their jurisdictions, and they often have a range of duties in addition to food—soil evaluations, Title 5, housing and pool inspections.

On the other side, food workers are trying to put out safe, wholesome food products, while still earning a profit. A chef might put out an exquisite food presentation, thinking of his customers’ delight at the wonderful display. But a health inspector looks at the same buffet with a different set of eyes, wondering how long the foods have been sitting out of refrigeration; why exposed foods aren’t protected from flying insects; and observing dirty hands and cuts on the chef’s fingers.

Restaurants have great challenges, including high turnover rates for staff, language barriers, and food safety training gaps, and they understand the consequences are severe if they don’t do it right. Many health departments seek compensation for the costs of investigating outbreaks and assess fines for critical violations and reinspections—and traceback methods make the food industry more accountable and financially liable than ever.

Adding to the confusion are differing versions and occasional misinterpretations of the food code that operations are expected to follow. This is a common source of frustration for companies with units in different parts of the country. What is judged to be a critical violation by one inspector might be interpreted differently by another—sometimes even in the very same jurisdiction. While there are many diligent, knowledgeable inspectors conducting risk-based evaluations, others are misinterpreting the food code and prohibiting certain risky processes, even if industry can document safe procedures. Unfortunately, these imprecise individuals can quickly ruin the credibility of the good inspectors out there.

More challenges arise from distributors, including deliveries left out by the back door in the middle of summer; Listeria coming in on the milk crates from delivery trucks; and some vendors trying to pass off older product on less savvy individuals. One restaurant chain confronted its egg supplier over eggs that were coming in watery, with yolks breaking on the grill and a great deal of discarded product. The egg vendor replied, “Well, it’s summertime. Chickens drink more water, and their eggs come out more watery.” Where is the science that backs this up? It’s just one more hurdle that restaurants must face as they try to run safe, efficient operations.

Restaurants are not perfect, either. In an ideal world, food workers would be taking the temperatures of every burger that comes off the grill. But reality includes milk leaks in coolers, bare hands contacting ready-to-eat foods, improper food rotation, and sick employees. Add to this the multicultural workforce that comprises the food industry, and we have challenges in the food safety system that cannot be taken lightly.

Recognizing the fact that restaurants have a lot on their plates, Eastern Food Safety conducted a study of certified food managers at 400 restaurants on the East Coast, asking them, “What keeps you up at night?” Staffing issues were the most pressing concern for 47%, followed by time constraints and customer satisfaction at 15% each. When asked how comfortable they feel calling their health inspector if they have a problem, only 35% stated that they would feel very comfortable. The million-dollar question, “How do you feel when the health inspector comes to do an inspection?” found 61% responding that they feel anxious and panicked.

These results may not come as a surprise to anyone who’s been in the field for any length of time, no matter what their position, and the challenges become magnified by cultural variations and language barriers in the workplace.

Cultural diversity often makes people think of unfamiliar foods, and they are unsure how to evaluate them during an inspection. Are the baluts or scorpions on a skewer safe to eat, even if they are unrecognizable by the inspector? It is important for both industry and regulators to understand an item’s characterization as a TCS [time/temperature control for safety] food and apply food safety measures accordingly. For example, traditional Middle Eastern shawarma meat, which rotates constantly on a vertical “rotisserie,” should be evaluated on its exposure to elevated ambient temperatures during the service period, with particular focus on the internal temperatures of the meat, not on the familiarity of the product. In other words, we should worry more about the internal temperatures, product sources, and sanitary conditions of the workplace rather than the food in question.

While our stated goal may be cultural sensitivity, especially given the explosion of ethnic restaurants and imported foods in the U.S., it is easy to judge foods by their “familiarity quotient.” For example, one local health inspector, unfamiliar with the particular risks of making sushi and unsure of how to validate a HACCP plan as required by law, blankly forbid the licenses of sushi production in her jurisdiction. She is doing a disservice to conscientious operators who have the ability and knowledge to produce these food products safely.

However, there are instances of language barriers posing true potential risks to food safety, as evidenced during some recent inspections. When asked to calibrate her bimetallic stemmed thermometer, a manager demonstrated the process using hot oil. In another restaurant, a young food worker was trying to cool hot diced cooked potatoes by piling them 12 inches deep in a bus bucket sitting on a thin layer of ice. Although he was trying to do the right thing, something was lost in translation.

In a large seafood processing plant, a woman power-washing the floor of the production room was spraying contaminants over floors, drains, and surrounding equipment. Training employees is challenging enough without the extra hurdles of language barriers, as in these cases.

Industry needs communication and support from regulators, suppliers, and management in order to operate efficiently and safely. Employees appreciate practical solutions to everyday challenges, and it can be something as simple as a more effective way to cool foods, date-mark products, or prevent cross-contact of allergens.

There are some practical strategies that can help bridge the training gap, regardless of language spoken. Color-coded equipment and utensils take the guesswork out of the preparation process, helping to prevent cross-contamination of raw meats and other products. Zone isolation reduces cross-contamination between different zones of an operation, isolating contaminants to a particular area. Colored day-of-the-week labels communicate food rotation principles and use-by dates, using color as a guide rather than language. Posters with colorful images depicting refrigerator storage order, food allergens, and handwashing are constant reminders of proper procedures for employees, regardless of cultural background or learning ability. These strategies all help to bridge language gaps that may exist in any operation and can strengthen a food safety program.

FDA research shows that foodservice workers are oral culture learners, learning more effectively through visual demonstrations and storyboards than written text methods. Eastern Food Safety has gone one step further with a series of “show-and-tell” videos, seizing teachable moments and communicating proper food safety practices while crossing multiple learning and cultural barriers.

Our goal is to use whatever tools we can to teach and reinforce safe food handling practices. This is especially true of establishments that may not have corporate support for trainings or a food safety director implementing systems. Whether you are a restaurant owner, line worker, vendor or regulator, we need to act as partners to find workable food safety solutions that will help us all. We need to seize these teachable moments and tell employees not only how to do certain tasks but also why they should be done in specific ways, applying accurate information based on science.

Only by working together can we help keep our customers safe from foodborne illness and our businesses efficient and profitable.

Cindy Rice, RS, MSPH, CP-FS, is president of Eastern Food Safety. Ms. Rice is an epidemiologist, certified food safety educator, and consultant for the food industry, regulators, and consumers. A national speaker and author, Ms. Rice is a food safety expert for Ecolab, writing for Food Safety Solutions, The Griffin Report, and other trade publications. Her own publications include Don’t Pick off the Croutons (an allergy handbook), Pocket Guide to Food Safety, PIC Manual, and a series of online training videos for the foodservice industry. Eastern Food Safety information may be found at www.easternfoodsafety.com. The company may be reached at info@easternfoodsafety.com.

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For pizza consumers, two things are a given: Your pizza should taste great, and it should be safe to eat. Great taste and good value will win the consumer; food safety will protect the customer and serve the business.

Anyone perusing the FDA or USDA websites will find a slew of food recalls listed. One Midwestern pizza manufacturer has never experienced such an incident and doesn’t intend to.

“There is nothing more important than food safety,” said Rick Roedl, president of Emil’s Pizza of Watertown, Wis. “After that, it’s quality. The customer has to love our pizza and keep coming back for more, or we fail.”

Quality was surely on the mind of the young man who opened a pizza shop in Watertown more than 50 years ago. Emil Kopplin’s desire to make the best-tasting pizzas in the region resulted the evolution of his business from a small, walk-in pizzeria to a sought-after supplier for local bars, bowling alleys, and other entertainment venues. In time, the pizzas were frozen for distribution, and the company started to grow in retail markets. Emil’s Frozen Pizza is quickly becoming a Midwest staple.

Today, Emil’s Pizza produces pizza for retail, wholesale, co-packing, and fundraising customers throughout Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, and North and South Dakota. Maintaining great taste and ensuring safe processes were easier when the business was small. But when Roedl joined the company in 2007 with a vision for expanded production, sales, and distribution, he knew he had a lot of work to do.

“There were challenges when I first came to the company,” he said. “People took pride in their work, but a good system allowing Emil’s to freeze and distribute the best-tasting pizzas in the least amount of time was in need of improvement. The company had been doing things one way for a long time, making it nearly impossible to maintain our quality standards while increasing production. The business was stuck in a production rut without room to support the growth.”

Roedl’s experience in Individual Quick Frozen (IQF) processes allowed him to quickly define one of the key problems: The company’s former nitrogen tunnel was not only causing production “log jams,” but its tight welded corners and structural obstructions also made for tough cleaning and left a potential for bacterial harborage points, along with inconsistent freezing that could impact taste, quality, and shelf life.

Roedl said Emil’s considers two absolutes above all others when selecting food processing equipment: Equipment must allow increased production capacity at an affordable operating cost, and it must be easy to clean and maintain.

“Our old conventional freezing tunnel had numerous stainless steel doors that had poor insulation and were prone to hairline cracking and failure,” Roedl said. “Not only did the old freezer tunnel use nitrogen inefficiently, it failed to meet our needs for increased production.”

Detailed attention to pizza topping application is the last step before using the ALIGAL FZ freezer to cryogenically lock in moisture and flavor.

Numerous door seals and hard-to-access areas in the old freeze tunnel trapped water and food particles, creating an opportunity for bacteria growth. “These areas needed constant cleaning and maintenance attention to meet our rigorous food quality and safety standards,” Roedl said. “This hurt production costs, and although we kept our freezer clean, the risk of contamination was always there.”

Roedl and Kathy Piliouras, Emil’s manager of quality assurance and R&D, immediately started researching new freezing tunnels. Mechanical refrigeration was not an option, because the slower freezing process would dehydrate the premium quality ingredients for which Emil’s is known.

“Our customers value and expect the best-tasting and highest quality pizza toppings,” Roedl said. “When you cut toppings, you create many new surfaces that can lead to moisture loss. We grind cheese and slice meats directly onto our product and know from experience that only nitrogen freezing can instantly seal the fresh toppings, cryogenically locking in moisture and flavor. Our pizzas are fully frozen within 200 seconds of breaking the toppings’ moisture barrier. This guarantees that the pizza will maintain its fresh taste from our production facility to the customer’s oven.”

Initial research turned up few new freezing options. Piliouras knew that more of the same type of industry standard freezer was not the long-term answer for Emil’s Pizza. When the team learned about Air Liquide’s ALIGAL FZ cryogenic freezer, however, they knew they had found the solution Emil’s needed. Unlike conventional nitrogen freezers, ALIGAL FZ addresses food plant sanitation concerns by opening so fully that all internal mechanisms are completely visible and accessible, and all surfaces are self-draining and easy to clean. Its innovative, integrated stainless steel and molded gel-coat fiberglass body construction maximizes convection, widens the freezing zone, and increases capacity.

“We spoke with USDA representatives before going with this system,” Piliouras said. “They agreed that the ALIGAL FZ’s top-lift system, which opens with the touch of a button, allows us complete access to see and clean anything and everything, ensuring cleanliness of the freezer.”

Roedl also pointed out that because the unit doesn’t require additional plant floor space for swing-out doors, Emil’s could increase production without increasing plant real estate. Nitrogen usage is minimized through isothermal cryogen injection and enhanced fan performance, offering more flexibility for differing product types. Air Liquide installs the cryogen storage vessel, including piping from the vessel to the ALIGAL FZ freezer. The company also supplies training to on-site personnel so they can operate the unit safely and efficiently.

The results have been significant. In the past year, throughput at Emil’s has increased by 23%, while nitrogen usage has decreased by 30%. Sanitation time and costs have been reduced by 75%. “We save enough in sanitation and maintenance costs alone to cover the cost of the freezer lease,” Roedl said. The ALIGAL FZ tunnel has also helped Emil’s pizza exceed the USDA’s food safety standards. “It’s great to know we are exceeding quality and safety expectations while maintaining the high quality product we are known for,” Piliouras said.

Piliouras also pointed to the trend of increased customer and third party food safety audits. “Our ALIGAL FZ freeze tunnel has been a strong contributing factor in high plant audit scores. We typically receive kudos from our customers and the USDA/FSIS for the selection of new equipment meeting the demand for high food safety standards.”

Roedl agreed. “Selecting the ALIGAL FZ has been an excellent decision for our company. We have been able to increase production and be a leader in food safety, all while lowering costs.”

And although a lot has changed in the 50 years since Emil Kopplin opened his pizzeria, one thing remains the same. “All of us at Emil’s Pizza believe in satisfying our customers with the highest quality, best value, best-tasting frozen pizza available,” Roedl said. “Our new freezing system ensures we can continue to do so with the highest degree of food safety in the industry.”

MaryJane Mudd is a Houston-based writer and director of global communications for a major oil and gas transportation services company.

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The food and beverage processing industry is known as the largest industrial user of water, consuming up to 20,000 gallons of water per ton of product, according to the North Carolina Division of Pollution Prevention and Environmental Assistance. And, with over 17,000 food and beverage processors in the United States alone, curbing this dependence on a community’s clean water supply is a top concern.

Predicted environmental challenges, such as a global water shortage, make it even more important to analyze the industry’s demand for water as a principal ingredient, cleaning source, transportation conveyor, sanitizer, and temperature regulator. Some of the ways processors currently use water include:

• critical washing and rinsing in the fruit and vegetable sector (accounting for 50% of water use);
• meat processing, with minimum cleaning requirements set by the United States Department of Agriculture;
• as a primary ingredient in the beverage sector;
• showering the product and removing heat during the pasteurization process;
• keeping foods frozen year round in cold storage units; and
• in packaging processes like thermoforming, blow molding, or vacuum forming.

In hot weather, outside air passes through the adiabatic chamber before reaching the heat exchanger. In this chamber, a fine mist of water is pulsed into the incoming air stream. The mist evaporates instantly, cooling the air before it impinges on the cooling coils that carry the process water.

With all these critical uses, processors need to find other places for water savings or face the negative impact of water shortages on their future operations.

Food and beverage manufacturers can take proactive measures now to conserve on resources and prevent these issues from affecting their plants. One way to do this is by evaluating existing process cooling technology.

Many facilities still utilize traditional cooling towers and central chillers for their process cooling needs, even though these inefficient cooling systems rank high on the list of water-related problems cited by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other regulatory bodies. A 100-ton cooling tower consumes 1 to 1.5 million gallons of water a year, water that is often contaminated. Newer, closed-loop technology seeks to reduce this unnecessary and excessive waste of clean water resources.

Traditional Cooling Tower Disadvantages

Water use isn’t the only challenge of a cooling tower/central chiller system. Such a system requires heavy maintenance and consumes unnecessary energy and chemicals, resulting in higher costs for facilities, lower productivity, and potentially even contaminated products.

When utilizing an open-loop cooling tower system, process water is far from ideal. Extremely dirty water filled with dust and other airborne contaminants is a common occurrence. Cooling towers also suffer from solid deposits, gases, algae, bacteria/Legionella, microbiological growth, scale accumulation, and oxidation. And all of these issues must be fixed with chemicals.

The actual consumption of water occurs as it evaporates or as the chemically treated water is dumped down a drain, making it a costly issue for food and beverage manufacturers. Given environmental issues, inefficient technology, and ever higher food quality standards, food and beverage manufacturers must concentrate their efforts on changing their ways.

The Closed-Loop Alternative

One alternative to a cooling tower is a concept known as intelligent process cooling. Food and beverage manufacturers using this process can realize big savings on water and energy, in addition to reducing waste. The technology works by means of a closed-loop, dry-cooling system. Proven for years in Europe, where water restrictions have been far more limiting, it is now is starting to gain popularity in North America.

This system often provides up to a 98% reduction in process cooling water. For example, it uses only 20,000-40,000 gallons per year, compared to a 100-ton cooling tower’s annual use of up to 1.5 million gallons. Where applicable, the system also reduces energy consumption by up to 95% compared to equivalent capacity refrigerated water chillers, making it a strong consideration for food processors looking for more sustainable options.

With this technology, manufacturers can expect water-friendly results that include:

• a closed-loop design that ensures the water is never exposed to outside elements for contamination or evaporation and never disposed of into groundwater;
• water returning from the process that is re-pumped into heat exchangers and cooled with ambient air flow, providing clean water at the right temperature year round; and
• advanced controls that ensure the most efficient use of water, even during extremely hot and cold weather conditions.

A closed-loop, dry-cooling system like the one shown here can provide up to a 98% reduction in process cooling water. For example, it uses only 20,000-40,000 gallons per year, compared to a 100-ton cooling tower’s annual use of up to 1.5 million gallons.

Besides its closed loop construction, this technology operates differently than other options because of what is called an adiabatic chamber. To maintain water below a set point in hot weather (85°F or above), outside air passes through the adiabatic chamber before reaching the heat exchanger. In this chamber, a fine mist of water is pulsed into the incoming air stream. The mist evaporates instantly, cooling the air before it impinges on the cooling coils that carry the process water; hence the term “dry-cooling.” This chamber drops the temperature to at, or below, the set point.

This fine mist, the only consumed water in the system, is only activated in temperatures over 85°F. Because of this, the system runs for much of the year without needing more water than it contains, using it over and over within the closed-loop process.

Intelligent Controls

An intelligent control system makes any necessary adjustments, seeking optimized equipment operation and conservation of resources. It takes into account real-time ambient temperature and continuously adjusts the system’s fan speed, adiabatic functions, free-cooling valve, and pumping stations, all without the need for an operator.

During colder months, in situations in which antifreeze is not acceptable, the system has a fully automatic, self-draining option that protects it from freezing. It also provides free cooling when used in conjunction with chiller water systems, which means the compressors turn off when the outside air temperature drops below a set point, and the system uses ambient temperatures to cool the process water.

Recent updates to this process have improved heat rejection through a redesigned and more efficient adiabatic chamber. The latest iteration features an enhanced, V-shaped adiabatic chamber that allows for greater, unrestricted airflow into the unit. This produces greater overall cooling capacity, better humidification of the air in the adiabatic chamber, and reduced air pressure within the cooling chamber.

As the food and beverage industry faces environmental challenges, rising sustainability objectives, and higher quality requirements, closed-loop dry-cooling systems may be the answer.

Fosco is industrial markets sales manager for Frigel North America, a global manufacturer of process cooling and temperature control equipment. Reach him at a.fosco@frigel.com, or for more information, go to www.frigel.com/na.

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