Applications for the Food Industry

Food Safety

Food safety is the top concern among food processors for very good reasons. It is critical for corporate survival and success. If there is a significant safety failure, excellence in other areas of corporate management will be wiped out and the company will lose on:

Regulatory compliance
Vendor certification
Supply chain performance and contract fulfillment
Corporate value

The analytical and reporting tools of SPC and MA are major contributors to a balanced and successful food safety program. They enable a food processor to track process performance at all critical points and alert all involved if there is any indication of a food safety failure.

The HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) principles have become the basis of formal food safety programs since their first deployment in the US Space Program. HACCP provides the means to identify Critical Control Points (CCP), establish critical values, and monitor for food safety failures.

HACCP programs have frequently been written from an audit or inspection point of view. It is more effective to use SPC/MA tools to monitor and predict the behavior at critical control points. The Butterball case study demonstrates that stable, highly capable processes enable successful sanitation and food safety programs:

Integrating HACCP and SPC

This concept was incorporated in the original USDA HIMP (HACCP Inspection Model) regulations and proves the role of SPC in maintaining safe food production.

Modern supply chain agreements and systems require the vendor to demonstrate an effective, fully functional food safety system including the ability to report to all parties and alarm if there is a threat of a food safety incident. Standards such as ISO 22000 formalize the requirements for supply chain food safety

The USDA School Lunch program demonstrates the combination of a food safety program coupled with SPC tools to meet vendor certification and contract requirements. The same pattern is occurring in standard commercial contracts.

Article: Supply Chain Management in the Purchase of Ground Beef
Webcast: Supply Chain Quality Management
Video: Food Safety in the Food Supply Chain

Current food security concerns require ingredient and finished product genealogy and supply chain management systems. Integrating these with Manufacturing Analytics provides the statistical process control, quality analysis, and reporting tools needed to identify process problems or specific contaminants and is an important part of preventing food safety or security issues.

Additional Food Safety Links

Analyzing Plant Sanitation Processes Using Statistical Process Control
SPC techniques coupled with simple environmental monitoring techniques prove superior to visual techniques to determine effectiveness of plant sanitation programs and meet sanitation standard operating procedures (SSOPs).
HACCP Integrations
Review of hardware and software used to integrate HACCP into plant management with discussion of Quality Monitor used for HACCP data collection.
Integrating HACCP and SPC
HACCP programs are often monitored only for critical value violations. Using SPC to monitor process stability and capability at critical control points increases the chance of HACCP success.
The Future of Food Regulations
The National Academies of Science report "Scientific Criteria to Ensure Safe Food" recommends that all food processors use SPC to monitor all processes. The benefits of implementing SPC include safer and higher quality food, decreased production costs, increased processing efficiencies and better regulatory compliance.
Using SPC Methods to Trigger Preventative Maintenance and Prevent CCP Violations
Predictive maintenance more effectively uses resources than scheduled systems. SPC enables dependable response to system needs at reduced cost and greater effectiveness.