Equipment recently installed in a large food storage area to monitor food storage temperatures revealed some astonishing results. The catering company knew there was a problem with storage temperatures because many of the food products stored were not surviving until their expiry date and because when the caterer bench-marked themselves against similar companies their energy bills were 12% to 17% higher varying only by the time of the year. The caterer was determined to show the suppliers of their refrigeration equipment that all was not as it should be and to force remedial action. The refrigeration company had undertaken tests on the equipment and found it to be in good functioning order.

Data Acquisition Networks installed temperature monitoring equipment in both the cold room and freezer. In addition, a simulated product temperature probe was installed in each by using a probe encased in a solution that provided the same thermal barrier protection as food packaging. DAN also installed magnetic switches so the door ‘openings’ could be monitored and correlated to temperature.

Within days the picture was clear. Workers in the catering organisation were propping the door open whilst they went in and out to retrieve food for preparation. The caterer received an alarm whenever the door was opened for a protracted period and not surprisingly the losses of temperature correlated with these occasions. Particularly shift staff, who had not been adequately trained and who worked largely unsupervised were the cause of the problem.

The refrigeration equipment did not need to be repaired. There was simply a need to help staff to understand that warm air penetrating the freezer and cold room had a dramatic effect on the storage temperature and also made the refrigeration plant work harder and consume more energy.

The food storage temperature problem was quickly resolved and the savings in electricity paid for the DAN equipment within months!

TEMPERATURE MONITORING

Food Standards Australia requires businesses to prepare and sell food that is safe to eat. Food causes illness because there are high levels of food-poisoning bacteria and these poisons are called toxins. “A way of preventing or limiting bacteria from multiplying or producing toxins in food is to control the temperature of the food by either keeping it cold or very hot”. Food Standards Australia requires potentially hazardous foods to be kept at 5degC or colder and prescribes that it is “safe for food to be between 5degC and 60degC for a limited time only”. Health regulators and inspectors commonly refer to the range between 5degC and 60degC as the DANGER ZONEfor perishable foods. Food Standards Australia defines potentially hazardous foods as foods that might contain food-poisoning bacteria and which will allow food-poisoning bacteria to multiply. Examples of potentially hazardous foods are listed as raw and cooked meat, smallgoods, dairy products, seafood, processed fruit and vegetables, cooked rice and pasta, foods containing eggs, beans and nuts and foods that contain these foods for example sandwiches and rolls. Many of these food types are also the foods that are inclusions in a balanced and nutritious diet.  Food Standards Australia also requires that potentially hazardous frozen foods are kept frozen when they are stored, displayed or transported. Whilst no specific temperature is specified for frozen food it must be kept frozen to remain safe. Temperature abuse of frozen food can also have a detrimental impact on eating quality. It is commonly accepted that -18degC is a safe temperature at which frozen food should be stored. It is also generally agreed that infrequent but consistent temperature abuse can have a detrimental impact on the shelf-life of food and with some foods temperature abuse can also affect its nutrient value. Food Standards Australia prescribes food that has been temperature abused for a continuous period of greater than 4-hours should be discarded. The NSW Food Authority recommends perishable foods should not be left in the danger zone for longer than 2-hours!

http://www.foodauthority.nsw.gov.au/consumers/keeping-food-safe/#How-can-I-make-sure-my-food-is-safe

 Data Acquisition Networks (DAN) provides cost effective temperature data loggers that automate data collection thereby enabling trained and experienced people to make jusgments on the suitability of food for human consumption. 

Contact Data Acquisition Networks
by email today and we will respond
quickly to your request.

If you prefer, Telephone +61 2 8838 2358

The answer to this question lies in:

1. The extent to which a temperature data logger automates the process of data collection
2. Whether data monitoring is continuous
3. Flexibility in system set-up

Temperature data loggers supplied by Data Acquisition Networks have an A+ rating on each of these criteria. Data collection is 24/7 and not just when someone has the time, data monitoring is continuous enabling food storage history to be tracked without gaps and the DAN website enables the user to logon much as you do to your bank account and change system parameters and set up alarms.

 Data Acquisition Networks is committed to ‘excellence and affordable solution’ for temperature data logging!

For a food outlet, ensuring the delivery of safe food to your customers and protecting your business against frivolous and mischievous claims is very, very important. Not only do mischievous claims give rise to the potential for ‘damages’ but they can also mean loss of reputation as has been seen in recent high-profile claims that hit the newspapers and television screens. Loss of reputation means damaging loss of business even if you are NOT AT FAULT!

Data Acquisition Networks provides low-cost monitoring solutions that routinely record facts about your food management and which can be used as evidence of your due diligence should the need ever arise. Also, because DAN systems send alarms when things go wrong they give you the opportunity to take immediate corrective action.

Food that is stored in coolrooms is perishable by nature and strict temperature controls are necessary to preserve the safety, integrity and shelf life of the product irrespective of whether the food is packaged or ready-to-serve.

Some foods that are temperature abused permit the growth of bacteria that can be injurous to health or in some circumstances, fatal. In almost every circumstance, a perishable food that is temerpature abused suffers a reduction in useable shelf life. At the expiry of its useable life food can lose physical structure, nutritional value or taste as the balance of flavours begin to break down. In some circumstances, all three can occur.

The outcome of temperature abuse at very best is the eating quality of the food can be corrupted and at worst, the food can be unhealthy to eat. KEEPING TEMPERATURE IN COOLROOM STORAGE AREAS FOR FOOD IS THEREFORE CRITICAL TO THE PERFORMANCE OF A FOOD UNIT.

HACCP requires operators to routinely take temperatures and record those temperatures in a permanent way. DAN units undertake that function 24/7 and at hourly intervals. Many food institutions have staff writing down temperatures several times a day which can miss times when temperature is lost. Also, some staff have been known to write down a tempreature that they know will not create a problem or investigation irrespective of what temperature they see. In a worst-ever-seen food establishment, a staff member was recording temperatures three days in advance because they knew they would be too busy to do it when it needed to be done.

 DAN systems send alarms to notify managers of a problem so that immediate corrective action can be taken.

Don’t allow the quality of the food you distribute to suffer because you do not monitor temperatures routinely. DAN systems cost so little yet offer much protection.

Call DAN today on +612 8838 2358 for more information.