‘We have years of experience of improving traceability and allergen identification systems for clients in the food manufacturing sector. From replacing batch card with tags to introducing standalone printers, we’ve helped many achieve a perfect audit score.’
Ready meal producer tightens allergen label system
The Customer
Our customer, a well-established operation specialising in supplying high quality ready meals and vegetable accompaniments to major retailers and branded suppliers, had a possible issue raised during a routine audit. As a result, our customer wanted to tighten up their allergen labelling system, and their Technical team approached Piroto to discuss solutions.
The Customer’s Challenge
Our customer’s existing allergen identification system relied on the use of hand written batch cards which were laid onto racks. Clearly this method caused a couple of potential issues. First, because the cards were handwritten there was room for misspelling and misinterpretation of information. Second, it was all too easy for the batch card and the rack to become separated; the card being lost or, worse still, stray cards being put on the wrong racks.
Our Approach
Having spent time observing our client’s operation, and with the wealth of knowledge and experience of designing identification systems in similar environs, we were able to suggest a few simple changes that could be quickly and easily implemented to improve the process.
What we delivered
Our solution was to produce a red tag with ‘ALLERGENS’ printed clearly in black. The tag colour was chosen as red was not used for any other identification purpose within the manufacturing process and therefore, the allergen tags were easily recognisable in use by all staff. Since no additional printing was required, the solution was simple and extremely effective.
The impact on the customer’s business
As suppliers to major multiple supermarkets who have, as part of their supplier audit processes, a requirement for allergens to be strictly monitored in manufacturing, our customer recognised the importance of tightening their processes. Following the introduction of the new allergen tag our customer was able to contact all their clients to inform them of the improvements they had introduced.
The simple step of eradicating the use of batch cards for identifying allergens helped to remove the risk of misread or missing information and therefore, possible contamination. And, by taking the proactive step to convey this to their clients, the supplier has cemented important relationships and helped to secure the business for the future.