HACCP and temperature monitoring: useful data for consultants and food companies
How to combine HACCP plans, digital monitoring, alarms and checks of probes and systems with SmartCold, NovaCold, NovaCalibra and NovaMappatura.
The role of the HACCP consultant when temperature data becomes a problem
For many food companies, temperature management is still linked to hand-written registers, inconsistent controls and information that is difficult to retrieve when it is necessary to demonstrate that a process has been followed correctly.
For the HACCP consultant this often means helping the customer to answer very concrete questions: has the cell maintained the expected temperature? When did an anomaly start? Who was notified? Are the probes measuring correctly? Is the data available during an audit?
From manual recording to documentable control
Digitalisation does not replace the self-control plan and does not decide the thresholds instead of the person responsible for the activity. However, it can make data collection more regular, report an exceedance and maintain a consultable history.
With NovaCold it is possible to combine it with existing equipment wireless probes, gateway and cloud platform. The system can help control temperatures and environmental conditions, with notifications via email and WhatsApp when values exceed configured thresholds. The thresholds, measurement frequency and intervention procedures must be defined with the consultant and based on the actual process.
For refrigerated transport, SmartCold connects temperature and humidity data to the vehicle's position and trip history. It is useful when the control does not stop at the cell, but includes delivery, distribution and handling.
Timely alerts and audit history
An alarm does not in itself demonstrate the cause of an anomaly: it can depend on a fault, a door left open, a hot load or a communication problem. Its value is to allow a faster reaction and leave a trace of the event.
The history can support internal checks, audits and disputes, as long as it is read together with company procedures, recorded interventions and other available evidence. The HACCP consultant can define which events to observe, who should receive notifications and how to document the management of non-compliance.
Cells, ovens and critical points: the measurement must be reliable
Continuous monitoring does not replace probe testing. Before relying on the data it is important to evaluate the behavior of the instruments and the position of the measurement points.
With NovaCalibra Novabase supports probe calibration activities. With NovaMappatura it is possible to analyze the temperature distribution in cells, ovens and other environments, identifying differences between different points and critical conditions.
Calibration and mapping answer different questions: the first concerns the behavior of the instrument with respect to a reference; the second concerns how temperature is distributed in space and time. Together they help build a control system that is more consistent with the process.
A technical collaboration for HACCP consultants
The consultant defines the self-control needs, thresholds and management methods; Novabase can take care of the technical part, from initial analysis to installation, up to assistance. The result always depends on the context: type of product, system, frequency of checks, connectivity and operational responsibilities.
If manual logs, alarms discovered late or difficulties in recovering data emerge among your customers, we can start from a concrete case. Write to giovannini@novabase.it or use the contact form.