Advances in plant sanitation

I recently attended a food safety symposium on plant sanitation sponsored by the BC Food Protection Association. To my surprise, the speakers were from a Canadian company, Victoriaville, Que.-based Sani Marc. This company has done exceptionally well competing against the sanitation multinationals in a highly competitive industry by providing innovative products and services to Canadian food processors. These include:

Innovations – Sani Marc invests significantly in research and development, looking for innovations that meet the needs of the Canadian food industry and respond to emerging issues.

Gel technology cleaners – Gel alkaline and acid cleaning is known technology. However, Sani Marc has successfully enhanced this technology to boost cleaning efficiency, reduce chemical consumption and decrease water usage. In some cases, gel technology has even decreased labour costs, resulting in significant savings to food processors.

Biofilm detection and removal – Biofilms have been the bane of food manufacturers for decades. Processors relied on deep cleaning techniques followed by micro-test trend analysis to locate problematic areas. This hit-and-miss approach was time consuming and many times had limited success. Working in collaboration with the Center for Biofilm Research at the University of Montana in the United States, Sani Marc has developed two products, BioDetect and BioDestroy, to address biofilm issues.

BioDetect is an instant test that provides a presence/absence result to confirm the existence of biofilm on a tested surface containing a minimum of 10,000 cfu/gm of the principal strains of concern in the food industry, including listeria monocytogenes, E. coli, staphylococcus aureus, salmonella and pseudomonas aeruginosa. BioDestroy is a product that dissolves the external protective biofilm and then destroys all the microorganisms living within.

Food safety software – A software program called CEPS (Continuous Evaluation Program for Sanitation) was designed to ease compliance. Developed with the input of food processors, auditors and the CFIA, this Windows-based, user-friendly software manages the sanitation program of a food manufacturing facility, including its SSOPs, the master sanitation schedule, as well as daily, weekly and monthly work orders.

Sanitation program management – Sani Marc developed its OPTisafe Program in response to the need in the market for a comprehensive approach to food plant sanitation. The program assembles a bundle of value-added products and services under the OPTisafe maxim: optimizing food safety. The five pillars of OPTisafe are its innovative products, CEPS software, engineering support, equipment technical services and training. These are regularly utilized by clients who participate in the program.

The first step in the OPTisafe Program is a one- to three-day visit from a team of specialists who review your sanitation operations to identify optimization opportunities or food safety challenges and the potential solutions. Their aggregate observations and recommendations are provided in a confidential Facility Evaluation Report, which will present fact-based suggestions for improvement and transparent calculations for cost savings.

The day-to-day support for sanitation operations is then provided by an experienced account manager, who advises on how to optimize processes and reduce costs. Dilution control and dispensing equipment is maintained by a fleet of mobile service technicians. A technical project manager with training and experience in quality control, microbiology and GFSI protocols provides documentation, audit and GMP support. Last, but not least, a team of knowledgeable customer service representatives located across the 15 distribution centres in Canada help with orders, shipping, tracking and delivery.

Should a crisis arise, the OPTisafe team of specialists will respond appropriately and efficiently. At this critical time, Sani Marc makes available additional internal resources including food scientists, microbiologists, engineering system specialists and personnel of the Level II Microbiology lab located at Sani Marc’s head office.

Born in Canada and focused on Canada, Sani Marc takes pride in claiming that it is the fastest-growing and largest manufacturer of sanitation products for the food manufacturing industry in Canada. With more than 500 employees and distribution centres serving every province, the company believes that its products and services provide comprehensive and cost-effective solutions to this industry’s current and emerging sanitation/food safety challenges. Learn more about this company, its products and services at www.sanimarc.com

Dr. R.J. (Ron) Wasik, PhD, MBA, CFS, is president of RJW Consulting Canada Ltd. Contact him at rwasik@rjwconsultingcanada.com