The Key to Safety is in Your Hands

The quality of the product takes center stage with the growing numbers of units and varieties of processed foods revolving around it.

FREMONT, CA: Food waste leads to losses to the tune of billions of dollars every passing year in industrialized and developing countries, and the factors leading to such situations is the lack of food processing, storage, and distribution facilities.

In order to reduce food waste, it is of utmost importance to process, store, and transport food as well as make it fit for consumption. It is not a cakewalk to provide food to the entire population, and that certainly makes the food processing industry an emerging segment in terms of its contribution to the global economy.

Many companies maintain food safety and quality during the initial stage of manufacturing, as keeping everything intact from the beginning of the process can ultimately convey the signature taste and quality of the brand to the customers.

Besides the wastes, food safety incidents are another cause of concern. Such situations can result from poor storage conditions and distribution practices like temperature variations, pest control, and allergen and microbial cross-contamination.

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Numerous organizations follow quality food safety management systems and similarly, make use of a storage and transportation quality management system (STQMS) that functions on PDCA cycle:

•    Plan: Plan all the elements and provide resources

•    Do: Implement the features according to the plan

•    Check: Check the efficiency of the system

•    Act: Frequently improve the system

Here are some vital elements of STQMS:

•    Scope: A comprehensive scope will assist the entire management team in dealing with the resources and drafting the plan for implementation. The scope is the key to any system, and it will help to outline the boundaries of the method.

•    Management: Management commitment is significant as the effective implementation of the plan can be done by the administration, which is dedicated to providing the necessary resources in terms of personnel, materials for training, and safety.

•    Infrastructure: Infrastructure is an imperative element of the STQMS as it offers high-quality warehousing, housekeeping, and transportation practices for effective implementation.

Apart from the above, there are a few other elements like inventory management, which reduces the possibility of stock loss due to properly maintained logs. The control of the audit process helps to identify an issue that runs the counter to food safety and quality objectives, and all together lend a hand in the smooth implementation of the preventive measures.