Applications for the Food Industry

Food safety is the top concern among food processors for very good reasons. It is critical for corporate survival and success. If there is a significant safety failure, excellence in other areas of corporate management will be wiped out and the company will lose on:

1. Regulatory compliance
2. Vendor certification
3. Supply chain performance and contract fulfillment
4. Corporate value

The analytical and reporting tools of SPC and MA are major contributors to a balanced and successful food safety program. They enable a food processor to track process performance at all critical points and alert all involved if there is any indication of a food safety failure.
The HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) principles have become the basis of formal food safety programs since their first deployment in the US Space Program. HACCP provides the means to identify Critical Control Points (CCP), establish critical values, and monitor for food safety failures. HACCP programs have frequently been written from an audit or inspection point of view. It is more effective to use SPC/MA tools to monitor and predict the behavior at critical control points.