In this episode, Dr. Carson interviews Dr. Kantha Channaiah from AIB International and Richard Starke from Reading Thermal.

Dr. Kantha Channaiah is the Director of Microbiology at AIB International, he’s responsible for performing program consulting and training food safety-related topics.

Richard is the Director of Reading Thermal, a division of Reading Bakery Systems.  Reading Thermal is an engineering group focused on the SCORPION Data Logging Measurement System.  His responsibility is to direct the company’s operations and communicate the technical capabilities and benefits of the SCORPION system.

Kantha explains that FSMA requires Kill Step Validation for bakeries, this means that all facilities need to validate their preventive controls and process steps critical for food safety. In this podcast, Kantha delves into the importance of these certifications and how AIB International can help with its multiple Kill Step Calculators available on their website. Kantha also explains why you cannot use the calculators interchangeably and the challenges with each.

Kantha and Lin also go over FDA regulations, and data loggers efficiency with the Kill Step process.

Richard explains the origins of FSMA during the Obama Administration. The FDA was instructed to take a proactive role in pathogens and food safety, the law was signed on September 2015. This law started a set of compliance deadlines for bakers, with a 3-year phase in:

  • September 2016 was the deadline for all bakeries over 500 employees
  • September 2017 for all bakeries under 500 employees
  • September 2018 for all bakeries with revenue under $1 Million a year

We also go over on what happens when bakeries are not compliant and how they would get penalized by the FDA.

Richard explains why bakers were challenged with this new law and assuming that the oven killed everything. Richard goes over temperature logging challenges for denser products like cheesecake, high fiber products or cookies with inclusions. We also cover which products need to be certified, hint: It’s all of them!

Richard explains the easiness of using data loggers, like Reading’s Scorpion to improve shelf life, consistency, crumb and satisfying the law requirements.