Cambridge backs cloud-based food safety system
The UK-based council has created a primary authority partnership with the system developer Checkit to indicate support for the system to other regulatory authorities.
The system is built upon the Food Standards Agency's Safer Food Better Business guidance, and involves interactive digital checklists and automated cloud monitoring to support compliance.
Martin Nash, product line manager at Checkit, said the partnership is an example of public and private sectors working together to transform how task-based businesses, such as those in the food industry, operate.
“Digital checklists are key to automating control over previously manual processes. We believe food safety is just the first application for our technology and are already seeing multiple applications in areas as diverse as healthcare and facilities management, where we can assist organisations in increasing efficiency and real-time control.”
It has four elements. The Memo is a handheld unit that displays scheduled tasks to staff, guiding them to comply with business processes and procedures, then automatically records and date stamps actions.
Second is a collection of hand-held probes for checking temperatures, and third the wireless sensors that automatically monitor temperatures, humidity and door status.
The data is fed to the cloud based control centre software that enables managers to see which food safety tasks have been completed, and provides an audit trail.
Help move away from paper records
Food businesses, including restaurants, supermarkets, schools and hospitals, are rated under the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme which displays ratings of qualifying businesses.
Frank Harrison, manager of the commercial team at Cambridge, said the system provides a digital record and can help institutions and businesses to move away from paper based records.
Councillor Peter Roberts, executive councillor for environment and waste at Cambridge City Council, said the work with Checkit demonstrates the benefits of partnerships.
“It ensures that the highest standards of food safety and hygiene can be maintained even in an increasingly technical world; this cloud-based food safety management system is the natural progression of the paper version most widely used, and will help advance food safety to an higher level.”
