Product category:
Telemetry, data acquisition + loggers
News Release from: Signatrol | Subject: Dataloggers for the food industry
Edited by the Processingtalk Editorial
Team on 22 January 2003
Undercover detectives for food
transportation
The food industry is highly competitive: companies are under increasing pressure to improve productivity and profitability: so, to account for food quality problems, data loggers are now indispensible
However this has to balanced against increasing legislation and public attention focussing on food quality and safety With HACCP constantly in the minds of the food technologist, data loggers supplied by Signatrol are being used to monitor critical control points for HACCP analysis
This article was originally published on Processingtalk on 12 May 2008 at 8.00am (UK)
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With food safety becoming more and more of a requirement, data loggers are playing an increasingly important role.
Although the data loggers do not have any influence on the critical control points, their ability to independently monitor the measured parameter and provide an unbiased account of what has happened, without making any judgement, is vital in food production and transportation.
To ensure this, logging units can have built in security features, which are configured so that the data cannot be extracted or modified by unauthorised personnel.
Further reading
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Although there are many factors which affect food safety, arguably, one of the most critical relates to temperature.
It is vitally important that while food is being processed, transported, stored or displayed, it is kept within the correct temperature limits.
Of equal importance is ensuring that food is cooked at sufficiently high temperatures for the correct time.
Temperature excursions at any point in the food chain can go undetected and often not subsequently discovered until poor food quality is in evidence, or in severe cases where food poisoning occurs.
As a result, measuring and recording temperatures throughout the food industry can provide vital data which can be used not only to highlight potential problems but also to act as the 'expert witness' in litigation cases.
The key to successful temperature datalogging is being able to place the logger right at the heart of where the temperature has to be measured.
When selecting a logger for a particular application, consideration should be given to a number of criteria including: Temperature range; Number of measuring channels; Environment and sealing requirements; Setup and down loading data; Security Size; Logging period; reading frequency and storage memory; Logger placement and retrieval.
Signatrol, the dedicated data logging division of Status Instruments, provide a comprehensive range of products for recording temperature across all sectors of the food industry.
If standard products do not meet specific requirements, then rather than compromise, the company will endeavour to adapt or modify them enabling them to record data in environments as diverse as jars of pickles, bread ovens and industrial washing machines.
Food transportation is becoming more complex and presents a major challenge when it comes to controlling temperature requirements for different products.
We now expect our supermarkets to provide a diverse range of fresh food products all year round.
In order to do this, they must purchase food from around the world and to ensure that this reaches the shelves in prime condition is of paramount importance.
However, achieving this can be a logistical nightmare and any problems are expensive not only for the supplier but also in terms of supermarket reputation.
Consider the example of beans picked fresh in Zimbabwe.
These must be transported swiftly to the field picking station, washed, graded and then packed.
From here they are transported to the airport, airfreighted to the UK, transhipped on to the supermarket distribution centre and then on to the individual stores.
The overall quality and freshness relies on strict temperature control throughout the journey.
Any excursions from their optimum storage temperature may go undetected- the only signs being a deterioration once on the supermarket shelf.
When a major supplier in Zimbabwe was faced with claims for premature food deterioration, they needed a simple yet effective way of finding the source of the problem.
The Signatrol SL150 data logger provided the perfect answer.
This logger is a small, self-contained unit which is fully sealed in a food grade plastic case.
The unique induction technique for accessing data means there are no external plugs or crevices and units can be placed directly with food without problems of contamination.
Units were used to monitor the temperature of the produce right from the start of the washing process at the farm through to the final destination at the supermarket.
Analysis of the data over a few weeks highlighted that sometimes the temperature of the produce was rising above acceptable levels.
The data gave clear information on when this had occurred and it was not difficult to identify that this coincided with the time when the produce should have been airborne on its way to London.
However checks with the airline at Harare airport showed that flights were regularly delayed.
Planes could sit on the runway in searing heat for up two hours and this caused the consignment to heat up.
The produce is now packed in insulated containers and this has solved the problem.
Other diverse cases have also been solved using portable loggers.
One of the strangest arose when a fish processing company were having problems with their cold stores.
Engineers carried out thorough checks on the equipment and could find nothing wrong.
However the problems continued and the company decided to place a number of SL150 tags inside the rooms.
Analysis of the data showed that on Sunday the temperature went above the company tolerances.
A special watch on the cold store revealed that on Sunday their account clerk would come into his office to catch up with his paperwork.
This happened to be located next to the cold store plant room and he turned off the refrigeration system so he could concentrate!.
Another example where portable data loggers highlighted problems was in the transportation of star fruit from Malaysia.
Star fruit should be carried at 6degrees Celsius to ensure that it does not ripen too quickly.
A major company involved in the importation of star fruit decided to use the SL150 loggers to ensure product arrived in tip-top condition.
This decision paid dividends when problems arose with a complete shipment.
The consignment in question was due to arrive directly into Felixstowe as normal.
However, it was diverted to Rotterdam and then put onto a smaller vessel.
Three days later, the shipment arrived in Felixstowe and was transferred to road transport for the last leg of its journey.
When the consignment was received, the temperature was checked and, initially, the customer was satisfied that the produce had arrived within the specified temperature.
However, when the fruit went on sale it was discovered that there were problems, and a significant loss of product resulted.
Interrogating the temperature logger, which had accompanied the consignment, highlighted where the problem had arisen.
The temperature of the consignment had risen to 9 degrees, while waiting to be loaded onto the smaller vessel.
Between Rotterdam and Felixstowe the ship refrigeration system had brought the temperature down to 7.5 degrees and the road vehicles system had subsequently brought the temperature down to the requisite 6 degrees.
This information was subsequently used to make a successful insurance claim.
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