Going out on a LIM to improve food safety

The stringent standards expected of food production are vital to ensure safety,  but compliance can be difficult. However if food scientists adopt a data driven approach they can transform a burden into an opportunity

Food production facilities are held to a very high standard by governments around the world, and rightly so: even relatively minor food safety incidents can put public health at risk and erode consumer confidence. But meeting regulatory requirements efficiently and comprehensively is one of the food industry’s greatest challenges. For some, however, it can also be a big opportunity. While regulations are indeed onerous, smart food producers – and the laboratories that serve them – now see an opportunity to apply regulatory rigor to a broader effort to achieve higher quality across all production processes.

Several different systems – both mandatory and voluntary – exist to ensure food quality and safety. The most well-known voluntary standard is ISO 22000, a derivative of the ISO 9000 quality management standard that has been modified specifically for food safety. Mandatory regulations include broad-ranging legislation such as the European Union Regulation (EC) No. 178/2002 and the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) in the U.S., as well as industry-specific rules such as the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA) or the Egg Products Inspection Act (EPIA). The majority of these standards and regulations are based on established QA/QC systems that have been used for decades, such as the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) methodology.

As food safety processes fall under further scrutiny from regulators around the world, it will become increasingly more important to quickly and cost-effectively implement process changes that align with new regulations. The most successful food producers and food safety labs will be those that can ensure that new regulation works for them rather than against them.

As mentioned, HACCP is the foundation for many of the regulations to which food producers are subject. One example is FSMA Section 103, entitled “Hazard Analysis and Risk-Based Preventive Controls,” which uses the HACCP methodology to outline a “preventive controls plan” that can be applied across the food industry.

Whether a HACCP program becomes a benefit or a burden to a food producer depends largely on how efficiently their data is managed and analysed. A HACCP program that covers the entirety of a food production process can generate thousands of data points each day, and these data are only as useful as the system that manages them. A laboratory information management system, or LIMS, is well-suited to the demands of such a data-intensive process.

A LIMS serves as a central repository for all HACCP data generated over the lifecycle of a food product, from incoming ingredient shipments to delivery of finished product. By guiding food producers through five critical steps in the HACCP system, a LIMS helps ensure that all data are collected and organised properly throughout the entire process.

Step 1: Hazard Evaluation

No two food production processes are the same. So the HACCP point evaluation, which catalogs any point in a process where risk to food safety or food quality exists, is a critical first step. Commonly, HAACP points exist where raw materials are introduced, vessels are opened, product(s) is extracted, materials are mixed and finished products are extracted. Points where employees directly interact with an ingredient or product are especially vulnerable to avoidable human error.

Using a virtual facility map created within the LIMS, producers can easily manage all their HACCP points. The virtual facility map also helps correlate supplier and shipment data so that records are sortable by supplier, batch date, shipment date or any other criteria. The result is a QA/QC system that can rapidly identify and contain errors before damage escalates.

Step 2: Defining Preventive Steps

In the food industry, preventing a safety or quality issue is typically far less costly than reacting to one. This means that a proactive stance aimed at eliminating opportunities for errors – albeit driven by regulatory policy – also can benefit a company’s bottom line. And this all begins with a process that establishes clear preventive steps for quickly handing product issues.

Instrument maintenance is a common fail point in many HACCP systems. Poorly maintained systems can wreak havoc at multiple steps during production. A LIMS helps staff stay on top of routine maintenance by sending automated reminders from a centralised maintenance schedule and keeping calibration records for all instruments. The system also stores operator competency records for employees who perform maintenance and calibration, ensuring that they’re authorized to do the required work. Lastly, producers can rely on the LIMS to track the quality of materials as they pass certain check points in the production process.

Having all these data collected in one central system also greatly simplifies the reporting process, which is often one of the most time-consuming parts of complying with regulation. Minimising the onerous administrative aspects of compliance allows facilities to reap more of the benefits, such as continuously improved QA/QC and better products.

Step 3: Establishing Monitoring Controls

The first two steps comprise the initial planning phase of the compliance process. Monitoring starts during step three. Because all hazard points and preventive steps are stored within the LIMS in steps one and two, facility monitoring (such as scheduling measurements, applying control limits, setting alerts, and analysing data) is much easier.

All data generated by a facility’s LIMS-integrated process and lab instruments can be automatically stored in a relational database generated by the LIMS. The system’s administrator can also build several different databases and presentation formats as needed, making it easy to organise and present information quickly and easily to multiple different audiences. Presentation options include process map overlays, graphs, real-time alerts and more.

Step 4: Maintaining Monitoring Records

Data becomes much less valuable when they aren’t organised into clear and understandable records that allow viewers to easily understand trends and areas for improvement. This is true for both regulatory and internal review purposes – each application requires different information and reporting structures to make the data optimally useful.

A LIMS simplifies the recordkeeping and retrieval processes by creating a completely paperless data collection and reporting environment. By networking with all HACCP-related monitoring instruments in a facility, a LIMS eliminates the need for manual data collection. This has two primary benefits: first, digital information is much easier to analyse, organise and present than manually collected information, which significantly reduces the administrative costs of data reporting. All records stored within a LIMS can be searched and organized according to any variable management prefers, greatly simplifying both internal and external audits. Second, digital data collection eliminates the enormous potential for human error that is always present whenever manual work is part of a process.

Step 5: Specifying Corrective Actions

During many food safety incidents, the difference between an isolated case and far-reaching recall is response time. A LIMS is designed to save valuable time when it matters most; it stores clearly defined corrective actions for every potential incident. If an incident occurs, the LIMS provides staff with automated SOPs that will walk them through all steps necessary to contain and solve the problem.

The LIMS continues to be useful once the incident is resolved. Records stored by the system can help staff determine the maximum potential extent of the damage caused by the incident, which in turn can help minimize the amount of products that may need to be recalled. After the incident has been fully resolved, a detailed incident report is stored within the LIMS for use by both internal and external stakeholders.

Regulatory compliance is necessary, but onerous. But many food producers are discovering that a disciplined and data-driven approach to compliance has benefits as well. An integrated data management system can be a catalyst that transforms food safety regulations into opportunities instead of burdens. By driving automation and analytics deeper into existing processes, a LIMS can help producers discover hidden opportunities for efficiency and quality. When this happens, especially on a continuous basis, producers aren’t just checking boxes for regulators, they’re running businesses better and more profitably.

The author:

 Colin Thurston, Project Director, Thermo Fisher Scientific