Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) and Digital Scales

Food safety is extremely important to all of us. In today’s ultra competitive and fast paced world, it’s imperative that we have laws in place to ensure that the food we eat is as safe as possible.

We hope the article below helps you better understand information about the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). Ultimately we think this information will highlight the ability of Rice Lake’s washdown products to meet your requirements of commercial processing industries. The FSMA info below not only informs producers about how to meet compliance laws, but demonstrates how Rice Lake scales can help prevent food contamination by the integrity of their construction and design.

For all producers, from the farm to the table, purchasing equipment that meets Sanitary Design Principles (SDP) is considered a mandatory preventative measure by the FDA. Our product offerings that are microbiologically cleanable, hermetically sealed and compatible with hostile environments can greatly assist you in adhering to these strict guidelines.

On January 4, 2011, President Obama signed the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) into law. The FSMA brought a much-needed focus of food safety laws into the food processing industry as well as to consumers, and the general public as a whole.

The signing of the FSMA was arguably the largest reform to food safety in the previous 70 years. According to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA), the FSMA “aims to ensure the U.S. food supply is safe by shifting the focus from responding to contamination to preventing it.” The key focus being prevention versus reaction in regards to food safety, from all aspects and stages of food—from the farm to the table.

The FSMA was spurred into action from an increase in foodborne illnesses in the U.S. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report almost 1 in 6 Americans fall ill to food borne diseases each year. Foodborne illness became an issue of public health in the early 2000s, enabling the FDA to set higher preventative standards for food safety and elicit enforcement agencies to hold companies to these standards and contain any potential problems before they become a widespread risk of foodborne illness. To do this, the FDA under the FSMA can order companies to recall when needed.

The primary role of the FSMA is prevention. As noted by the FDA, “for the first time, FDA will have a legislative mandate to require comprehensive, science-based preventative controls across the food supply.” This legislative power ensures all U.S. companies that contribute to the food supply, no matter their size, are subject to the authority of the FDA and their preventative and responding agency.

Under the Prevention section of the FSMA, controls are given to the FDA for the following:

• Mandatory preventive controls for food facilities
• Mandatory produce safety standards
• Authority to prevent intentional contamination

These measures need to be qualified by scientific justifications by the FDA and are enforced by legislation. Under the mandatory preventative controls for food facilities is the addition of a preventative control plan that includes the following:

1 ) Evaluating the hazards that could affect food safety
2 ) Specifying what preventive steps, or controls, will be put in place to significantly minimize or prevent the hazards
3 ) Specifying how the facility will monitor these controls to ensure they are working
4 ) Maintaining routine records of the monitoring
5 ) Specifying what actions the facility will take to correct problems that arise.

Purchasing and using equipment that meets the Sanitary Design Principles (SDP) falls under these mandatory preventative measures as a control to prevent or minimize the possibility of foodborne contamination and disease. Continue reading

Fitness Equipment Company Gives Doran Scales a Workout

Recently, a fitness equipment manufacturer was weighing a kit of parts and their current weighing system was still allowing an unacceptable quantity of quality control problems. The ideal product for the fitness company was a Doran 2200cw scale. Below is a summary of what was installed at their facility.

A system was proposed that would automate and simplify the process and retain the accumulated weight through the process of weighing several components of a parts kit. By connecting three Doran 2200CW over under accept check weigh scales together and using foot switches to activate certain push buttons, Doran was able to construct a system that allowed the employees to accurately weigh the kit of parts even though the weighing process took place across three workstations – all without pushing buttons on the scale front panel.

2200CW check weigh scaleThree 2200CW check weigh scales were set up using RS-232 cables so that scale number one sent weight data to scale two, and scale two sent weight data to scale three. The first 2200CW check weigher was set up for an over value of 1.2 lb and an under value of 0.7 lb. The employee weighs the items at the first scale and then presses the PRINT foot switch on the first scale. That weight is sent to the second 2200CW and would be automatically programmed as the tare value in the second scale.

The second 2200CW scale is set up with a target weight of 2.2 lb. A component is added to the kit of parts and would be weighed on the second scale and the GROSS/NET foot switch would be pressed to change it to gross mode. The PRINT foot switch is pressed and the total weight (including the tare value sent from scale one) is transmitted to scale three.

On the third and final 2200CW scale, another part is added to the kit. The GROSS/NET foot switch is pressed, to put the scale into gross mode. The weight of all the parts is shown on the display of scale three.

This is just one example of what is possible with Doran scales and the huge choice of available options. If you have a unique weighing application, contact us at Central Carolina Scale and we can get a Doran scale system quoted for you that will save you money and increase your efficiency.

Check Out the Latest Advanced Features of the Doran 2200 indicators

Doran listens to their distributors and their needs.  Along with the 2200’s standard features such as Gross, Net, Tare, multiple product ID’s, full numerical keypad, accumulator, eight setpoints, two RS232 ports, Doran recently released the latest offering of advanced features for the Doran 2200 Indicator which include: Continue reading