Working with Advanced Automation Associates to respond to new Federal requirements for food safety, bioterrorism
Exton, PA — December 1, 2003 — With both the Food & Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture poised to announce new requirements for food safety and bioterrorism, food manufacturers are working to automate their compliance and increase the accuracy of their collected data.
Recently, Advanced Automation Associates Inc. (A3), a performance management systems provider, said it has been working with a top national food manufacturer to automate its hazard analysis and critical control point (HAACP) compliance. The team of engineers at A3 has created a hand-held PC barcode scanner that provides an "alarm" function to make sure that operators are doing HACCP checks on time and with full accuracy.
According to A3, ScanHACCP, a combination of hardware and software, provides statistical process control to determine if temperatures are out of spec and guides the operator through appropriate adjustments. Most importantly, in regards to the FDA's Bioterrorism Act, it enables the manufacturer to track specific lots of ingredients through their entire plant, from check-in through to the retail delivery.
"The Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002 gave the FDA new authority to protect the nation's food supply," said Robert Zeigenfuse, the founder, president and CEO of A3. "They have been tuning and tweaking this over the past 18 months, and in December they will be issuing the final guidelines. Our client is already ahead of the curve by working to develop a solution for its manufacturing plants, and provide detailed and reliable data in compliance with the FDA's new requirements."
