Baking & Snack - December 2017 - 81

OPERATIONS
Food Safety Management

recipe for
User-friendly software provides simpler
ways to adapt to constantly changing
and demanding FSMA requirements.
by Dan Malovany
In a paperless world, people don't have to worry about
physically dotting an "i" or crossing a "t." It's pretty much
done automatically in the digital age. And while bulky
three-ring binders may phase out when it comes to food
safety compliance, the paper trail has been transformed
into an ever-expanding universe of data management
under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).
In fact, FSMA - and the subsequent regulations that
followed - require that everything in a bakery or snack
operation be verified, validated and documented on an ongoing basis, according to Len Heflich, founder of Heflich
Food Safety and contributing editor to Baking & Snack.
"You need to document your procedures, findings,
failures, training programs, corrective actions ... it all
needs to be done," he explained. "There is a lot of documentation required."
Previously, food manufacturers needed to identify
critical control points in their processes where a hazardous failure could occur and lead to a recall. "Under the
new requirements, it's about 'all' control points, not just
critical ones," Mr. Heflich pointed out. "In a way, it's a
good thing because it sidesteps the whole discussion of
defining what's a critical control point and what's a noncritical control point."
Under FSMA, the bigger focus involves risk management, but don't count on the Food and Drug
Administration to explain how to do it. "It's up to the
manufacturer to perform its own risk assessment and
identify its own control points," Mr. Heflich noted.
And yes, he added, that's actually a good thing. "It's
great because that's where the onus of responsibility belongs," Mr. Heflich explained. "Those are the people who
know the most about the process and products. In many
ways, it's a much more flexible and adaptive program
than we had for food safety in the past."

SUCCESS
when a program had to be customized to adapt to a specific operation. Most of the software today uses a standard platform for data storage, and compatibility issues
have virtually disappeared, according to Mr. Heflich,
who has more than 20 years of experience in food safety - even writing programs years ago for some of the
nation's largest bakeries.
"You have to ask, 'Does the software have to be programmed or configured?' There's a big difference," he
observed. "If it has to be customized and programmed,
that's expensive and time-consuming. If it has to be configured, that means the person who put together that
program has already anticipated your needs. You're not
changing the program, just defining its elements."
In most plants, the first line of protection starts
with recipe management systems. Focus Works offers
PRIMS, which stands for Product Recipe Ingredient
Management System. The program ensures lot traceability control from when ingredients are received,

Relying on easy-to-use
technology, production
personnel monitor
operations and gather vital
data that can now reside
securely on the cloud.
MiT Systems

Simplified by software
Finding user-friendly software to manage food safety
has become easier. For the most part, gone are the days

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Baking & Snack - December 2017

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