NEW REMOTE MONITORING CUTS FOOD RISKS
In 2008 the Food Standards Agency dealt with 1,298 incidents of food contamination. Sensormetrix is today announcing its innovative remote monitoring system for the food and restaurant industry. The Sensormetrix ‘Poseidon units’ are a range of process monitoring systems offering a safeguard for food storage, detecting if a pre-set temperature is consistently met as well as detecting if a fridge or freezer door has been left open.
Sensormetrix’s Poseidon operates in line with the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) system, which identifies any possible risks that result in food being contaminated so that these risks can be minimised. The Poseidon sensors monitor the environment of the fridge or freezer on a 24×7x365 basis, eliminating human error and providing a timed log of results on a continuous basis.
Another feature of Poseidon includes ‘Active Feedback Path’, for the closed loop control of food storage and processing. This means that if the conditions differ then an alarm can be set to alert a manager or administrator via an SMS text or email as a method of preventing food contamination. By preventing food contamination in this way, it could significantly reduce costs for restaurateurs.
Nick Lidington, managing director at Sensormetrix, comments, “Bacterial growth is one of the most significant dangers to food safety from incomplete cooking, or a storage temperature which is too high. Temperature is an important measurement for food safety, but we believe that temperature logs alone, especially manual logs, are not sufficient to guarantee food safety because they rely on human interpretation of the results to trigger remedial action.
Food poisoning is a restaurateur’s worst nightmare, but how many restaurants currently have equipment in place which monitors food temperature through the night as well as during opening times? Sensormetrix Poseidon offers reassurance that the food’s environment is controlled and monitored continuously, so that if, for instance, a fridge or freezer shuts down at 3am but then fixes itself by 8am, there will be a detailed log of this occurring. Without Sensormetrix, this problem would not have been detected, the risk of food being contaminated would be high and also a breach of health and safety. Sensormetrix’ solutions take the HACCP system one step further.”
Poseidon systems can be cabled or wireless and customised to the size and nature of the environment. Powerful software is also part of what Sensormetrix offers for records of historical data. This data can also be recorded and presented in graphical or spreadsheet form for analysis or regulation requirements.
A typical example of the Sensormetrix equipment needed for a three fridge/freezer monitoring system
It is possible to use any of the Poseidon family to monitor a single or multiple fridges or freezers. Every appliance can have its own designated name and alarm threshold, independently of the others.
A simple system would comprise of the following:
· A Poseidon unit
· 3 temperature sensors (3 fridges)
· Power Supply
· GSM Modem Kit + SIM card (if SMS alarm is needed)
For Further information about Sensormetrix, visit www.sensormetrix.co.uk
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