Meat + Poultry - November 2005 - 39

60-pound boxes. Seeing that consumer and customer
demand is increasing for leaner products, BPI plans to
introduce a 98 percent lean product.
BPI's high-quality products are made by processes, controls, safeguards, and custom-designed equipment the company has developed. All BPI plants, located in South Sioux
City, NE; Waterloo, IA; Amarillo, TX; and Finney Country,
KS, as well as its refrigerated warehouse and equipment
assembly facility, are computer linked and interlinked to a
master-control station at corporate headquarters in Dakota
Dunes, SD. Each facility communicates critical real-time
information, including temperatures, times, pressures, production speeds, refrigeration and hydraulic data, and more,
to the master control room. These controls ensure the most
consistent, high-quality beef available industry wide, company executives relay. And this crucial
monitoring never ceases - it takes place
24 hours a day, seven days a week.
What's more, plant and control-room
personnel maintain constant contact via
two-way radios. It's all part of the company's operating philosophy that values
communication and cooperation.
Food safety is of the utmost importance to the company. BPI's product naturally has a higher pH than typical ground
beef thanks to its process and patented
pH-enhancing technology. And BPI's
quality-assurance department monitors
and records microbiological results on both incoming raw
materials and finished product.
Among other things, BPI's QA department draws a sample of BPI product approximately every 10 seconds from the
finished product flow (equivalent to a sample from each
box of finished product produced). Each sample becomes
part of a composite sample representing each box on a pallet. The composite sample is then analyzed for fat, moisture,
and protein. Each box is bar-coded, and this information is
entered into a corporate QA computerized pallet and barcoded box-tracking system.
Two-hour composite samples are then sent to an independent laboratory for microbial testing throughout every
day. Tests include total plate count, E. coli, Coliform,
Salmonella, Listeria, Staph, and E. coli O157:H7. BPI never
wavers from its rigid test-and-hold commitment.
To ensure complete safety, BPI also tests extensively for
the presence of central nervous tissue (CNT). A daily composite is sent to an independent, outside laboratory, and
samples are tested for presence of CNT. Product is not
released for shipment without a completed microbial profile, including a negative E. coli O157:H7 result and confirmation of no evidence of CNT.
In underscoring its commitment to maximizing product
safety, the company invites customers to participate in its

BPI‚ Test and Hold Guarantee for E. coli O157:H7 and
Salmonella for their finished products.

Pumps and grinders
Freezing Machines Inc. (FMI), an affiliated company, offers
its new FMI-BPI Series of pumps and grinders.
"We needed high-volume grinders and pumps that were
dependable, sanitary, and built to last - so we developed
our own," answers Eldon Roth, BPI founder and president,
when asked why his company is involved in machinery
building.
BPI pump and grinder features include:
* Innovative design
* Superior performance
* Designed for sanitation - features CIP (clean in place)
technology
* Fully automated and operator friendly
* All stainless construction for maximum
hygiene
* Built and developed by a meat processor for meat processors
* Optional controls and monitoring
through BPI's master control center
BPI is no stranger to machinery
design. It has been successful during its
24-year history in large part by designing
its own equipment for its own unique
processes. In fact, today BPI designs or
modifies most of the machinery and systems used in its four plants.

Dakota Cold Storage
BPI's new, fully automated Dakota Cold Storage facility
will help the company to keep up with increasing product
demand. Highlights include:
* Packaged product arrives from the adjacent South
Sioux City processing plant via conveyor in an overhead, enclosed bridge
* Each box entering the facility is untouched by human
hands until its reaches the processor.
* An automated palletizer stacks boxes in a variety of
configurations.
* The freezer holds up to 28 million pounds. Fifteen levels of cold-storage racks soar 115 feet in height and are
loaded by automatic crane.
* Temperatures are: Palletizing area, 27ºF; holding freezer, 0º F to -5ºF; and truck loading, 40ºF.
* Delivery trucks back into one of five loading doors -
backing in far enough inside of the facility to prevent
product exposure to the outside environment.
For more information on BPI's products and services, phone
(605) 217-8000, e-mail bpisales@pronet.net, or visit
www.beefproducts.com

For more information, see Page 140

http://www.beefproducts.com

Meat + Poultry - November 2005

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