When receiving food products from suppliers, food businesses should always ensure that there’s no contamination. They can do this by asking the suppliers to protect the goods from contamination such as sending them through containers and packages. In addition, the packages and containers (once received) should not show any signs of damage or tampering (aside from contamination, replacement of the item is also possible here). It’s also crucial that there’s always someone present when the delivery comes (or that it should not happen in the first place if there’s no one at your premises).
About contamination and other food safety issues
Inspection and quality control are crucial aspects of proper food handling. However, it requires additional time and resources (and possibly hiring more personnel). To work around that, one way is to inspect the supplies and items at a random basis. This is what normally happens in large businesses where they do the inspection in a random or stratified way (getting few samples from predetermined batches).
Inspection and quality control are also important in ensuring tight temperature control during delivery. Potentially hazardous food should always be within safe temperature levels (5 degrees Celsius or below, or frozen). It’s especially the case when the delivery time is more than two hours (regularly check both the departure and arrival times). Temperatures outside the safe limits will accelerate microbial and enzymatic activity. This will cause spoilage or affect the integrity of the product.
Similar to inspecting the incoming supplies on a random basis, you can also do this when checking the delivery records (it’s almost impossible to check every departure and arrival time). The key here is to ensure that the suppliers or transport companies are adhering to high standards.
When it comes to high standards in frozen and refrigerated delivery, Cooltrans is one of the leaders in the field. Since 1997, we’ve helped food businesses ensure the integrity of their own products by ensuring tight temperature control and prompt deliveries. Contact us today and we’ll properly and carefully handle the consignment.
