Environmental Monitoring Solutions: Vital To Your Food-Safety Program
By Sam Lewis
As FSMA’s implementation nears and food-safety regulations grow stricter and stricter, the need to oversee all parts of your food-producing facility is becoming glaringly apparent
A decade ago, environmental monitoring was used a means to conduct random samples. Now, using one is not only a central part of supervising your company’s operations, it is a requisite of FSMA. Fully-functioning environmental monitoring programs (EMPS) serve several purposes. However, one that can’t be overlooked is the ability to act as early alert mechanism for potential threats, such as microbial contamination, within your facility.
Furthering that idea, EMPS can gauge the success of all hygienic protocols within a facility. This provides information regarding the source and strength of the pathogen or microbe. Having this data allows for timely, corrective actions which ultimately means the prevention of events of microbial or bacterial foodborne illnesses. Improvements in production techniques, material handling, and distribution practices have helped in reducing spread of foodborne illnesses, but protecting consumers from them is still a daily struggle for food makers. Many foodborne illnesses are the result from poor sanitation practices within a food-making facility, which is why overseeing the environment is essential to produce safe, high-grade food products.
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But what makes up a good EMP? The system must cover the entire process of production — from sourcing materials (upstream) all the way downstream to end product. The system must be able to detect indications of microbial contamination at every aspect of production and as early as possible. Consulting services are available to advise and determine the best way to create and perfect facility-specific EMPs. These advisers arrive at the facility, review it for potential hazards as well as examine current sanitation programs and practices. Finally, the consultants will offer a final statement regarding the efficiency of sanitation, practices of employees, and plant operations.
The idea of preventing foodborne illnesses rather than reacting to them is a founding principle of FSMA and one of the main reasons an EMP is essential to your food-making operations. FSMA section 103 on hazard analysis and risk-based preventative controls (HARPC) states a food-making facility’s operator must evaluate hazards that could affect food production, and put preventative controls in place to prevent their occurrence. EMPs help food makers do just that.