Dairy farm deploys BarTender labeling system to enable FSMA compliance

The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) was enacted to keep the food that ends up in our homes safe to consume.

However, while the update to US food safety policy is designed to put in place proper safeguards, it creates a challenge for food producers nationwide. Companies must now implement preventative controls, record the testing and safety data for each product and track a product’s journey across the supply chain.

And, while compiling that data, it must also be available to share with regulators within 24 hours of a request being made.

That policy created daunting pressure for food producers who traditionally used manual methods to capture data.

This was a particularly troubling issue for a dairy farm that was hand-labeling the 11,000 samples of milk tested each year. When milk was collected from the cow, a sample was stored in an ice bath and tested periodically over 72 hours, a process designed to make sure the milk is safe to drink and pathogen-free.

Hand-labeling the milk made it difficult for the dairy farm to meet FSMA standards. Not only was the hand-labeling process time consuming, but it opened a high potential for human error, which meant an increased risk of a contaminated and unhealthy product reaching store shelves.

Faced with the untenable reality of continuing to label by hand, the dairy farm started using BarTender software, which enabled a process to create, automate and manage the labeling of each sample.

Now that BarTender software has been implemented into the dairy farm’s workflow, 18 labels are printed each time a sample is taken. Since those labels are printed from one BarTender file, the farm has consistent and accurate data and, with BarTender-generated bar codes, a simple scan means data capture is a breeze.

The BarTender system created a process that was easy, efficient and accurate. And, the software is so intuitive to use, the dairy farm is able to create new label formats as needed without additional technical or IT assistance.

After switching from the manual system to the BarTender software, the dairy farm now has no trouble staying in compliance with the data capture and retrieval conditions of FSMA, which allows the for a quick, efficient response to all records requests from regulatory agencies and, ultimately, makes it easier for the dairy farm to send a safe product through the supply chain and into the homes of consumers.