IT Solutions for the Food Industry – Seminar (Dublin, Ireland)

The aftermath of the horse meat scandal has provided some insight into how both regulatory authorities and the food industry will deal with the issue of species contamination in the future. It appears that the main tool for control will be testing and inspection. Following on from a European wide DNA testing plan endorsed by the EU standing committee, consumers will in the main depend upon testing programmes at both national and business level for assurance on the composition of their food products.

This is not new in the food sector. Despite the adoption of HACCP by the food industry over the last twenty years and its preventative approach to controlling hazards, the industry still depends on testing their food products to confirm the effectiveness of local controls and assure regulatory compliance. Recent events now effectively underpin the necessity for food companies to maintain inspection and testing programmes for food safety, quality and legal criteria. Coupled with traceability requirements and food safety management systems the cost and resource burden increase. Inspection and testing programmes must meet the following criteria:

• Be based on an assessment of risk or legal need.
• Be sufficient to detect the presence of the pathogen/contaminant within a reasonable degree of confidence.
• Provide timely results where possible to prevent suspect product reaching the market.
• Be based on accredited methods and sampling plans where possible.
• Provide clear and concise data which can be analysed and trended for management.

The key issue here is the management of data through the supply chain in an efficient and repeatable fashion and this is where food companies more and more are investigating the application of IT solutions to help meet their compliance demands.

In response, Safefood 360 are delighted to be partnering with Emydex Technology and Simply Dynamics to present our three IT solutions which can be integrated to meet the most demanding compliance needs of any food business.

The IT Solutions for the Food Industry Seminar will be held on May 28th at Microsoft’s Auditorium Room, Microsoft European Development Centre (Building 2) South Country Business Park, Leopardstown, Co Dublin. It will showcase the three solutions all of which are based on Microsoft cloud technologies.

Emydex specialises in factory floor data capture and traceability reporting systems while Simply Dynamics is a leading provider of ERP business management software to the food sector. Finally we will present the Safefood 360 food safety management solution which covers the specific requirements of global food certification standards and retailer requirements. The presentation will include a worked example of a meat delivery through the process and include deviation management based on a failed DNA test. Integration between the solutions will be highlighted.

For more information and to book your place at this event click the banner below. We look forward to seeing you there.