As tools for testing food safety become more accurate and portable it is important to ensure that all measuring devices operate at maximum efficiency and provide a traceable calibration record.
Fluke has developed a range of calibrators for measurement tools supporting food quality and safety.
Fluke Calibration, a global leader in the manufacture of compact, professional electronic test and measurement tools and software and locally represented by Comtest, highlights that calibration will play a key role in the world’s ability to produce enough safe food to feed nearly eight billion people.
In light of World Metrology Day – marked on 20 May 2023 – and its focus this year on ‘Measurements supporting the global food system’, Fluke Calibration emphasises how food testing laboratories can save lives by ensuring the equipment they use delivers accurate measurement results every time. Accurate measurement is essential in the food industry, to enable the provision of sound nutrition information to consumers and to ensure food security for a growing population.
Increasing demand
As the world’s population continues to grow, the food industry needs to increase food supply. At the same time, many countries are strengthening their focus on food quality and safety, which increases demands on measurement and measurement tools. According to the World Health Organisation, about 600 million people worldwide (nearly one in 10 people) suffer from food-borne illnesses, with an estimated 33 million healthy life years lost each year. Some 420 000 people die worldwide each year from unsafe food, and 125 000 of them are children. Additionally, this raises medical and other costs, often for low- and middle-income families, that could be avoided.
Food quality needs to be monitored and controlled on an ongoing basis and on an extensive scale. Typical factors measured to ensure food safety relate to temperature, pressure and humidity, mass and volume. And these apply throughout the food value chain. Food can deteriorate quickly if measured levels exceed or fall short of accepted standards. For example, humidity needs to be controlled closely to minimise mould growth and extend the life of dry goods, and checking the pressure in storage tanks is essential to prevent microbiological contamination during the homogenisation process of various foodstuffs. Of course, the same applies if temperatures stray above or below stipulated thresholds.
Traceable calibration
To ensure the accuracy of every measurement taken – especially as measurement is increasingly happening away from laboratories and out in the field with the use of portable and handheld tools – all measuring devices need to be calibrated and should have a traceable calibration record.
As measurement instruments are becoming more accurate, Fluke Calibration has developed various solutions – such as temperature calibrators – that can cater to these changing demands. Fluke Calibration tools can reduce downtime and boost productivity by ensuring faster calibration. They are designed to deliver results of the highest accuracy within minimal timeframes.
Managing food production and supply systems and improving efficiencies relies on accurate measurements. However, measurements can quickly become meaningless if the measurement instruments are not calibrated. When it comes to securing the future food supply, Fluke Calibration is committed to playing its part in ensuring food safety. Calibration is the key.
For more information visit: www.comtest.co.za
