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A significant 60% of respondents to food industry analysts at Alchemy Systems say that not all of their employees adhere to their food safety programs in place on the floor, according to results from their 2022 Global Food Safety Training Survey.
Their research cites several challenges when it comes to food safety training—the top three being scheduling time for training, staff turnover, and bad practices or misinformation passed between employees.
While 80% of companies report believing they’d have higher productivity if employees adhered more consistently to training programs, only 18% of these companies said they plan to add new training technology.
That’s bad news for full service restaurants, commercial kitchens, and other foodservice businesses that don’t know how to fix such problems within the food safety protocols. Frontline staff are key to reducing food waste, and meeting and improving food safety, HACCP and operational compliance.
Food safety technology that includes digital auditing tools can definitely help, and we’ll explore four specific ways in which investing in a Food Safety Management System with technology powered by the Internet of Things (IoT) can reduce human error and drive the behavioral change that food based businesses need across the industry.
But buyer beware: just as putting a mobile application on a tablet doesn’t automatically change behaviors, cloud-based technology that’s connected to the internet is not a magic wand for the foodservice industry. Its implementation and continued use along with all of the efficiencies created by using the system, must come together to have a meaningful impact in maintaining a healthy food safety culture.
So, when you’re looking for wireless technology that drives real results, always ask, “How will these advancements in food safety technology improve my business?”
Improves Quality of Training
According to the Alchemy Systems research, 51% of companies are providing on-site training with an instructor and 71% on-the-job training.
Technology is often suggested as a solution to maintaining the highest quality of training. The ideal technology is that which interacts consistently with employees, such as digital workflow checklists. This type of technology provides automatic feedback, corrective actions and documentation, making it an important tool for a business to use.
Eliminates Pencil Whipping
The Alchemy Systems research also reveals that 53% of respondents are still relying on paper records in their food safety programs, opening the door to errors and food safety noncompliance.
Introducing technology like digital checklists can eliminate the many risks of pencil whipping, which can render proper temperature monitoring completely inaccurate, and lead to spoilage of frozen food items and wastage and increase business and customer vulnerability to health regulation violations, foodborne illness incidents, and potential lawsuits.
Digital checklists and wireless temperature sensors are efficient replacements for recording food temperatures manually because of their internet connectivity.
Facilitates More Efficient Record Keeping
The problem with foodservice employees using pen and paper to record temperatures extends beyond pencil whipping. For instance, as a food business owner, you must ensure that all appliances keep food at safe holding temperatures. This is impossible with manual recording using pen and paper.
Manual recording may not alert you to appliance problems until after food has started to spoil, placing food safety compliance in jeopardy. But wireless, portable food sensors and IoT applications offer continuous temperature monitoring and alert you immediately if food temperatures fluctuate outside normal ranges.
Ensures Consistent Temperature and Operational Management
Not only does technology in food safety culture offer continuous temperature logging, but this temperature monitoring system also ensures that checks occur when schedule by employees to eliminate food safety incidents, reduce documentation errors, and improve food safety compliance.
The bottom line is that technology implementation or upgrading the current technology in your food organization will underline the significance of a healthy food safety culture and illustrate the importance of proper food safety practices and corrective actions to all the employees.
Sensors Help Ensure Operational Performance Through Timely Appliance Maintenance
The ability to know when or if food holding temperatures are fluctuating within your appliances also allows you to conduct necessary maintenance or replacement with proper equipment before food quality is reduced through spoilage, ultimately allowing you to improve your food safety protocols.
Overall Compliance and Value
The data provided by the system allows for greater insight into both the performance of the equipment and to operational performance of the staff. When all are working together the optimum efficiency can be achieved. The power of the data aids in the efficiency of the organization.
ComplianceMate offers a full suite of food safety solutions to help anyone at any level in the foodservice industry at any part of the food supply chain. The sensors and checklist products ensure your employees keep food safe through avoidance of food contamination and completion of proper workflow process while food temperatures stay within in range all while your information is kept safe with cloud storage with a full hierarchical view of the enterprise.
For more information about our full suite of digital tools visit our website or call 678-346-0380.
