Adapting to FSMA
FDA inspectors received new powers under FSMA, one being their right to review a plant’s written records documenting food safety performance. Inline safety systems, like most other equipment that now uses microprocessors and PLCs to sequence operations, are well positioned to provide such records.
“In most cases, metal detectors and X-ray equipment already have this recording capability,” said Doug Pedersen, manager, food business unit, North America, Sesotec. They record time, events and even who logged into the machine, and all that information can be graphed on the machine’s terminals and exported into SCADA systems for analysis and reporting purposes. The company’s Intuity and GF 4000 units offer password-protected logbooks and menu-guided validation systems. This amounts to audit-safe records. “What we’re seeing now is that more people are taking advantage of these features,” he noted.
Fortress Technology debuted the Interceptor, a simultaneous multi-frequency metal detector, at the International Baking Industry Exposition this past fall and featured it in the event’s Innovation Showcase. “We built in the Contact software for data collection on our new model,” explained Kelly Sharpe, marketing manager, Fortress Technology, Inc. “Because we design for backwards compatibility, users of our older Phantom model can add this software feature, too.” A USB port on the machine enables collection of data onto a thumb drive, which can then be plugged into a computer for analysis and report generation. “This method is straightforward and simple,” she added.
Making information more available to plant operators and inspectors, EyePro Systems USA developed an activity trace log. “Each inspection is time stamped,” Mr. McGhie explained. “The data and reports log the measurements by time. The activity trace log tracks any changes made to the inspection and rejection settings, not just the change but which authorized operator made those changes.” The system setup allows multiple authorized users, each with a unique ID and password.
TNA North America opted to provide users of its Hyper-Detect 5 metal detector with annual third-party certification. “Certification is a different process than verification,” said Mark Lozano, sales manager. “The inspector tests the sensitivity and balance of the metal detector, and that information is passed along to the user.”
FSMA regulations are not the only food safety rules that concern bakers and snack makers. There are also the requirements of their own HACCP plans and Global Food Safety Initiative requirements, including SQF, IFS and BRC inspection and certification programs.
Vision systems examine product qualities of color, shape and size — factors which, strictly speaking, don’t have a direct role in food safety, but the problems they identify do correlate to less-than-desirable processing and packaging conditions, according to Joe Crompton, director, controls engineering, BluePrint Automation.
Read on to learn about the latest in inline inspection technology.
