Importance of Food Safety Monitoring in Food Industry

From grocery stores and convenience stores to fast food chains and restaurants, each type of operation must instill a sense of confidence in consumers that the food and beverages they purchase will be safe from contaminants, including disease-causing bacteria.

One way to help maintain the quality of food and its safety is through the use of various monitoring systems. Refrigerated and frozen foods must be maintained at specific temperature levels at all times. If there are variances in the temperatures, they must not exceed certain levels, or else the food could become contaminated.

The food industry is a trillion-dollar industry when you factor in all types of operations, from food production and manufacturing to the end products purchased by consumers at their favorite restaurants and grocery stores. Anytime an outbreak occurs, not only does it hurt consumers, but also the confidence of consumers in the brands that experienced the outbreak. In addition, those brands could face potential lawsuits, further tarnishing their images.

As such, everyone at every level of the industry is concerned about food safety and utilizes various methods of monitoring to limit and reduce the risks of contamination and food-borne illness outbreaks. While each operation can take a different view and utilize different methods of monitoring, they are in agreement about setting appropriate safety standards and quality standards to maintain consistency.

Monitoring helps ensure quality and safety because it requires food to be handled in specific ways. Implementing monitoring processes should include those that can be tracked to identify potential issues and concerns over the safety and quality of food products.

For example, in the restaurant industry, coolers and freezers need to have ongoing temperature monitoring solutions in place. These solutions need to alert employees and others when a freezer or cooler temperature falls outside the safe operating zone.

Furthermore, food within freezers and coolers should be stored to prevent cross-contamination between food products. For instance, raw chicken should be stored separately from other meats, and any containers should be washed and sanitized before being reused. Cooked foods should also be stored in a different area from raw foods.

Restaurant owners even need to have methods in place for labeling foods to keep track of their freshness. They should review expiration dates on food products regularly and dispose of any food that expires.

By implementing the right monitoring solutions, those in the food industry can gain several benefits, including:

• Makes collecting data easier.
• Offers the ability to convert data into customized reports.
• Helps businesses comply with specific federal, state and local regulations, rules, and laws.
• Makes it easier to track the source of potential outbreaks before they occur.
• Reduces the potential for human error.

To learn more about food temperature safety monitoring solutions for your food industry business, please call today 858-457-8160 or visit us at www.procuro.com!