Many food plants operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in some capacity. Without proper planning, quality control, good manufacturing practices (GMP) and sanitation procedures, an around-the-clock operation is a high-risk candidate for food safety dangers. In this type of environment, how are essential retrofits and renovations accomplished without compromising daily operations, food […]
Stellar is experiencing a major uptick in sanitary design projects, and we have a hunch as to why. The implementation of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) has many food and beverage companies taking a deeper look at their processing practices, their plant designs and the equipment that goes inside their facilities. As food recalls […]
As food safety regulatory requirements become more stringent, equipment manufacturers are stepping up to the plate and increasing the role they play in the industry. The American Meat Institute’s (AMI) 10 sanitary design principles offer baseline standards for equipment design, yet many suppliers are going above and beyond these standards by offering improved surfaces, cleaning […]
For the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), 2014 will be a year of change. The President’s 2014 budget includes a request for $295.8 million allocated to the FDA’s food safety initiatives. According the FDA’s 2014 Congressional Budget Request, the agency’s priorities this year include:
Food processing facilities in the U.S. have long made food safety one of their top priorities. Unfortunately that’s not the case in China. In recent years the country has been plagued with numerous high-profile food safety scandals, from grilled kebabs made from cat meat to pork buns so loaded with bacteria that they glow in […]
The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) expanded the FDA’s authority to regulate the conditions of food manufacturing facilities and how products are produced, manufactured, transported, imported and marketed in the United States. Food safety audits, whether conducted by an internal team or by an outside consultant, will ensure that your food processing plant is […]
If you’re thinking of upgrading equipment or renovating your facility, it’s critical that food safety requirements are met in the process. Most manufacturers are taking a proactive role in ensuring equipment is engineered for optimal cleaning and sanitizing to meet all safety regulations, but it’s important that all plant stakeholders who play a role in […]
Food processing engineers are frequently challenged with developing controls and processes for managing food safety precautions within a plant. Yet food safety is a role that every employee, from the top down, needs to embrace. It should be deeply rooted within the plant’s culture and most important, it should be a continuous improvement process.
One of the most common causes of food safety problems is a flaw in the sanitary design of food processing equipment. When building new facilities or installing new lines, many food manufacturers struggle with increasingly fast-paced project schedules and limited funds, which affect priorities assigned to sanitary equipment design and requirements during the early […]
When production in a food processing plant is halted for the installation, servicing or maintenance of machinery and heavy equipment, there must be a LOTO procedure in place to prevent the machine from turning back on and injuring a worker.
