World Food Safety Day: How Digital Technology is Helping Supermarkets ‘Prepare for the Unexpected' to Ensure Food Safety

Ensuring the safety and quality of food from farm to fork is a monumental task, and one that demands constant vigilance and precise control of conditions, especially of refrigerated goods. A single misstep or error along the way could result in a threat to the quality and safety of the produce, leading to foodborne illnesses and health risks.

From developing robust product policies and implementing rigorous training and store standards, to deploying digital technology to monitor and manage produce along its supply chain journey, supermarkets have long been at the forefront of advancing and ensuring food safety.
 
At IMS Evolve, we are proud to be a proven partner for some of the world’s largest named food retailers, helping to drive real-time action to protect food safety, improve food quality, and enhance operations. To mark the recent World Food Safety Day, which highlights the importance of these efforts, we are shining a spotlight on some of the work going on behind the scenes in supermarkets to ensure the food we eat is being kept safe, fresh and of the highest quality possible.
 
Using Digital Technology to Revolutionise Food Safety

Maintaining the integrity of temperature-sensitive products is a complex task that requires accurate control and continuous monitoring of refrigeration systems. It also demands rapid, real-time responses to mitigate potential risks from challenges such as temperature fluctuations or equipment faults and failures. This is where advanced technology comes in.
 
To safeguard produce, extend shelf life, and minimise waste, IMS Evolve’s Internet of Things (IoT) solution can be deployed as a digital layer over a retailers existing infrastructure to collect previously untapped data from critical refrigeration equipment. This real-time data can provide insights into machine set up, performance, health, and even the contents of a specific unit when connected to the merchandising system.
 
By leveraging these vast insights into everything from overcooling, temperature fluctuations, and equipment malfunctions, the IMS IoT solution ensures optimal conditions at all times to protect the safety of goods.
 
The solution identifies challenges and intervenes when they arise to avoid spoilage, contamination, the shelf life of food being reduced, and stock being unnecessarily lost. Depending on the problem detected, this intervention could be automatically alerting a refrigeration engineer and directing them to the prioritised fault. Or, continually configuring the setup of individual refrigeration units based on the actual produce inside, rather than by the traditional method of cooling everything by the most vulnerable product, meat, which lessens product quality and results in an annual over-cooling of millions of degrees.
 
IMS Evolve’s data-driven approach not only ensures that consumers receive fresh, high-quality and safe products, but also results in significant cost savings for retailers by preventing spoilage and waste. Furthermore, automated action from the solution enhances operational efficiency, allowing retailers to address issues proactively and maintain a reliable supply chain. Ultimately, leveraging advanced IoT technology in refrigeration management is a game-changer for the food industry, promoting sustainability, reducing costs, and ensuring food safety.
 
Preparing for the Unexpected

This year's World Food Safety Day theme, ‘prepare for the unexpected’, draws attention to the importance of being prepared for food safety incidents of any severity.
 
The past few years have been marked by numerous unpredictable events that have significantly impacted food retailers' operations. From the pandemic to the cost-of-living crisis, to more extreme temperatures, preparing for the unexpected has become more crucial than ever. This is especially relevant to food safety issues, for example, during the recent heatwave where the UK saw temperature of above 40°C, retailers relied on technology to closely track the temperature and efficiency of assets to ensure mission-critical equipment was operating effectively under the extreme conditions to maintain food availability and safety for consumers.
 
Retailers have been incredibly innovative and flexible in dealing with unexpected challenges, but the events of the last few years has forced supermarkets to focus on being prepared for anything. Fortunately, by partnering with a technology provider retailers can adapt, react, and drive targeted actions during unexpected times, ensuring a more robust and resilient approach to providing safe and fresh food to consumers. By incorporating cutting edge digital technology, food retailers can prepare for the unexpected through enhanced visibility, control, and data-driven decision-making, empowering them to feel prepared for the unknown at a time when stores are being held to increasingly higher food safety and quality standards.
 
Through real-time monitoring, advanced analytics, and asset management, food retailers can proactively identify risks and implement preventive measures. This ensures that food products remain safe, fresh and have the longest shelf life possible.
 
In today's fast-paced and unpredictable world, the ability to adapt and respond swiftly to unforeseen challenges sets successful food retailers apart. By embracing innovative technology and maintaining a vigilant stance on food safety, retailers can confidently navigate the unexpected and continue to provide high-quality, safe food to their customers.