New technology increases food safety in complex supply chains
The food industry is facing increasing pressure to improve safety of food from two fronts, the consumer, and regulator. Consumers are becoming more sophisticated and demanding more from food suppliers while agencies ranging from FAO and WHO to national food safety agencies and health authorities are enforcing more stringent safety requirements.
Consumer Demands
Consumers in developed and developing economies are demanding an increasing range of foods to be sourced from all parts of the world and seasonal foods to be on the shelves all year round.
Coupled with this there is a greater awareness of nutrition, environment, sustainability and ethics of food production, putting greater demand on the suppliers and retailers.
The easy availability of information globally means the consumer can find scientifically correct information about products and ingredients, news — and even misinformation — anywhere, anytime. This means food safety issues can be reported around the world in an instant — and affect suppliers, processors, and retailers in an instant.
Gain insights into how globalisation is affecting food safety
Regulators
On the regulatory side, there is pressure, both internationally and nationally, to improve the safety of global food supplies at all points along the increasingly complex supply chains.
These can involve multiple growers, processors, transporters, ingredient and packaging manufacturers and storage sites in any part of the world. Even simple ingredients can have complex supply chains with multiple handover points where risk can be introduced and then errors become difficult to trace.
After several major food safety scares, such as melamine in baby milk formula, horsemeat in beef products, numerous outbreaks of food-borne diseases such as Salmonella, E-coli, and Listeria, authorities have tightened requirements for all components of food supply chains.
Most significantly, major food importing and exporting countries such as the US and China have introduced the greatest changes to their food safety legislation for decades.
Legislation requires all businesses along the supply chain to take responsibility for ensuring the supplies and suppliers they use, as well as their own products, are safe and conform to standards.
Processors, manufacturers, packers, suppliers and distributors of food ingredients and products must be able to:
- identify the hazards that introduce food safety risk;
- define all the processing points that can affect food safety (critical control points) and implement measures to maintain safety;
- implement standard safety practices including pest management, cleaning, hygiene, sanitation and waste management;
- keep records showing compliance;
- comply with standards, verified by independent auditors.
Data on causes of failure to comply with food safety standards compiled by BRC auditors shows that the most common cause of failure is basic hygiene, which includes: sanitation, cleaning, personal hygiene and pest management programmes. [1]
New role for connected technology
New technology developed by Rentokil Initial uses a range of sensors and wireless technology to send sensor data automatically to a cloud storage system.
The data is combined with an integrated online reporting and analysis system that allows customers to monitor and analyse data collected from their sites.
The same data when collated across all sites and combined with data collected by technicians gives Rentokil unprecedented insights into food safety across thousands of sites.
PestConnect
PestConnect is a collection of devices that detect or capture a variety of pests using traps, bait stations, and monitoring units.
The devices have integrated sensors that can detect a pest, activate a trap, and automatically trigger an alert to Rentokil, for an exterminator to schedule a priority visit, through a dedicated wireless network or GSM mobile network.
The technician will visit the site, survey for signs of pests and recommend measures to improve the integrated pest management service.
The PestConnect detect and capture systems are:
- RADAR Connect: a mouse detection, capture, humane killing and alert system;
- Cage Connect: a mammal capture and alert system;
- AutoGate Connect: a rat control and alert system that uses a smart gate mechanism to allow access to toxic bait.
CageConnect traps an animal and immediately sends an alert to a Rentokil pest controller These systems are integrated with the myRentokil customer portal, where the data is available immediately to the customer and it provides trend reporting, recommendations, interactive maps, charts and analytical tools to support internal and external audits. PestConnect is already installed at over 1000 locations.HygieneConnect
HygieneConnect is a system for washrooms that can count the number of visitors and the number that wash their hands with soap.
The aggregated percentage is then displayed on a screen for everyone to see to encourage people who don’t wash their hands to change their behaviour.
The system consists of these components:
- footfall monitor: counts the number of people visiting the washroom;
- soap usage monitor: counts the number of people using soap to wash their hands, and can track the amount of soap remaining in the dispenser;
- hand hygiene display: shows the percentage of people who wash their hands;
- wireless system to collect data from the sensors and send to a cloud-based data store;
- myInitial: online reporting system that gives the customer access to their data so they can easily see and track the handwashing rate in each washroom.
The power of data
Pilots of HygieneConnect have been conducted in businesses across Europe that require high standards of hygiene. So far data has been recorded from over 100,000 activations. This has shown that overall handwashing compliance in businesses usingHygieneConnect doubled, increasing from an average of 40% to 80%.
When data from our PestConnect systems is combined with observations and recommendations entered in myRentokil by our technicians (exterminators), covering 51,000 sites in 27 countries, it gives a powerful tool for analysing safety factors throughout the supply chain.
Recommended focus for action made by Rentokil technicians to food safety premises
The recorded pest incidents show that just over half of pest problems are caused by rodents and a quarter by flying insects. Interestingly, when the detailed recommendations made by Rentokil technicians across all the sites are analysed, they show that the major factor that needs improvement is sanitation and hygiene.
The data gives a strong indication that following basic practices and procedures for cleaning, preventing contamination and ensuring hygiene can have a major effect on maintaining safety in the supply chain.
Technology used in PestConnect andHygieneConnect can silently monitor pest incidences and hygiene compliance to give management an instant indication on:
- where critical areas need improvement;
- help businesses achieve compliance with food safety standards and legislation;
- and most importantly improve safety for the consumer.
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