Let Food-Safety Software Help You Achieve Regulatory Compliance

By Sam Lewis

Managing numerous food-safety directives and requirements may seem like a daunting task. However, food makers that approach this challenge methodically, and with the proper software, will quickly find compliance.

It’s no secret that food-safety legislation is evolving and becoming more stringent across the globe. The majority of these regulations find their basis in Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP). Becoming compliant with, and managing, these regulations is hard work, but can also be viewed as opportunity to improve accountability and encourage the production of higher-quality products.

Taking The First Steps Toward FSMA Compliance

The primary obstacle of applying HACCP, as required by FSMA, is handling the enormous amount of data these systems produce. An effective solution to manage this information is a laboratory information management system (LIMS). From ingredients received to completed food products, these systems collect and manage data over a product’s entire lifespan. Further, LIMS assists food makers create and implement new HACCP programs, or bolster existing ones, via a five step process: Hazard Evaluation, Naming Preventive Procedures, Creating Monitoring Controls, Recordkeeping, and Identifying Corrective Actions.

Evaluating Hazards
No two food-making facilities are identical. This means each facility must first identify the individual HACCP points of the plant. Contamination risks will most likely occur in place where raw materials and containers are open and where final products are put in packaging. Even more at risk are the points in production that require employee intervention as the element of human error is introduced to production.

Naming Preventive Procedures
As the title clearly indicates, this step is all about prevention. An all-inclusive HACCP system is an expensive endeavor, but its cost is nowhere near the cost of a far-reaching call, damage to consumers’ health, and a loss of brand loyalty. Among these preventive procedures is instrument care, one of the most common reasons for mistakes in food production. A LIMS offers facility employees with automated maintenance notices, which will help significantly reduce production errors. Additionally, a LIMS can keep an eye on and track operator competency. This lets auditors, both internal and external, to confirm all employees have received adequate training. A LIMS can also examine the quality of materials passing through the plant, identifying materials that do not meet specifications at the earliest possible point of the HACCP program.

Creating Monitoring Controls
The previous two steps are only the beginning of the road toward compliance, as the majority of the labors of regulatory compliance happen when the monitoring process starts. However, a LIMS can index all hazards, as well as list all preventive measures. This lets the monitoring process to be simplified through scheduled measurements and alerts, setting control limits, and examining information for each unique HACCP point of a facility. The data created by the monitoring process is stored in a database contained in the LIMS. Because of this, data can be displayed in a variety of different ways — process maps, graphs, charts, and even alerts. Control points can be moved into clusters that lets users break down the data further.

Recordkeeping
Collected data is only as good as the system managing it. If data is not clearly organized in easy-to-understand records, data can lose its value. A LIMS can streamline the recordkeeping and record retrieval processes through paperless collection and reporting. By interacting the LIMS with all HACCP monitoring equipment, all manual data collection can be eliminated, along with any possible human error associated with it. Further, data stored within the LIMS can be arranged and searched by a variety of different means including batch, origin, and electronic signature, simplifying the auditing process.

Identifying Corrective Actions
Response time is critical to limiting the damage of a food-safety incident. A LIMS helps food-producing facilities shrink response times by keeping well-defined corrective actions for each type of potential food-safety event. Should an event occur, LIMS offers staff automated standard operating procedures that instruct them on the necessary activities to suppress and solve the issue. Once the event in contained, the LIMS’ stored records can determine any damage or potential damage caused by it. Because of this, the facility’s management is able to make more-informed decisions regarding the event, including a recall. When an event is fully solved, incident reports are created and stored with the LIMS to be read and evaluated.