While baking may be an effective kill step in controlling foodborne pathogens in bakery products, FDA-FSMA requires formal scientific validation. The Reading Thermal SCORPION® 2 Profiling System is a powerful diagnostic tool that has become an industry standard for FSMA compliance and for understanding and improving your proofing, baking, cooling and freezing processes.
Reading Thermal, a Reading Bakery Systems brand, has been focused on the science of commercial baking processes for more than 25 years. We manufacture and support the SCORPION® 2 Profiling System and Data Logger which enables you to monitor actual in-process conditions and get the critical information you need to correct problems, maintain optimum process control, and validate your kill step for food safety.
What is Kill Step Validation?
Although most baked products experience a kill step during baking, there is usually no scientific evidence. FSMA requires documented proof of the kill step, validating that the baking process is consistently delivering the desired lethal effect to ensure that harmful pathogens and microorganisms have been reduced to safe levels.
State-of-the-Art Solution
The SCORPION® 2 Temperature Sensor Array measures temperature at product level, in fixed positions across the conveyor, and delivers a true representation of what your product is experiencing over time.
The sensor array is connected to the SCORPION® 2 Profiling System and Data Logger and travels through the oven with the product (with the oven under full load), producing an exact picture of temperature from side-to-side and end-to-end.
Different types of pluggable temperature sensors are available, including one designed for solid or tight mesh conveyors and one for open mesh conveyors.
The Air/Conveyor sensor is designed to measure the surface temperature of the conveyor as well as the air temperature directly above the conveyor. This Sensor is designed for solid or tight mesh conveyors and measures air and band temperatures.
The other pluggable temperature sensor is an Air/Air sensor. It is designed to measure upper air temperature immediately above the conveyor, and lower air temperature of the air rising through the conveyor. It is meant for open mesh conveyors.
Once data has been collected, the SCORPION® Software (SV8) Food Safety Module enables you to calculate lethality and then generates a comprehensive report displaying cumulative log reduction.
By combining the simple method of measurement with robust data capture, the SCORPION® 2 System makes it easy to optimize your process while meeting food safety standards.
Kill Step Calculators
With the SCORPION® 2 Data Logger, you can utilize AIB International’s Kill Step Calculators to evaluate the lethality of your process. There are kill step calculators for specific bakery products, including hamburger buns, round top cake muffins, nut muffins, fruit-filled pastry, 100% whole wheat multigrain bread, multigrain bread, crispy cookies, soft cookies, yeast-raised donuts, flour tortillas and cheesecake. Download the procedures and calculators here.
Count on the state-of-the-art Reading Thermal SCORPION® 2 Data Logger for baking kill step validation. No other system makes achieving desired levels of food safety and throughput so simple. Call our headquarters in Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania at (610) 678-5890 Ext. 2, or contact us online to learn more about our innovative products.