Temperature Calibration Temperature Calibration And The Food Service Industry A great many technical processes are affected by and rely on temperature calibration services. The food service industry, for instance, depends on temperature calibration to account for temperature stability or fluctuations in the creation, processing and distribution of food. During the transition food products make from product to store shelf, temperature calibration technicians must be able to accurately and consistently gauge the temperate of food in order to ensure its safety. What Is Temperature Calibration? In order to maintain certain temperature standards in a given cold chain, there must be some process by which a product’s environmental temperatures can be monitored. Temperature calibration is the assessment, adjustment and comparing of temperatures used in previous and subsequent steps in the cold chain. Usually the comparison includes a range of temperatures that are considered optimal, a range that is acceptable and a range of temperatures that is deemed unsatisfactory. What Are Some Of The Uses Of Temperature Calibration? In a cold chain, temperature calibration is maintained throughout the production and distribution process. As food items are produced, their temperatures are constantly being monitored by calibration devices which seamlessly automate the calibration process. Once products are produced, they are often transported in temperature controlled couriers such as refrigerated tractor trailers that can easily be monitored onsite and remotely.
If, at some point in the cold chain, the temperature fluctuates to the point where it can compromise the quality of the food that has been produced, many companies can request calibration services to employ an onsite temperature calibration process that would serve to restore the refrigerated environment to an optimal temperature range and ultimately protect the food product shipment from being negatively impacted by temperature changes. How Is The Right Temperature For A Food Product Determined? The standards by which all manufactured products must be handled, produced and stored are applied according to global GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) and GDP (Good Distribution Practice) guidelines. These guidelines were created so that manufacturers, distributors and even merchants might have a standardised system of best practices by which to operate. These practices help to prevent and minimise occurrences of food deterioration that may result in increased populations of harmful bacteria on food products as a result of improper temperature control at any point in the production to distribution supply chain. Who Is Allowed To Perform Temperature Calibrations? All temperature calibration and inspection services must be performed by technically competent professionals who have been certified by the National Association of Testing Authorities, Australia (NATA) to deliver calibration services. NATA is a non-profit organization that has been delivering accreditation services to laboratories, calibration services and inspectors in Australia for more than sixty years. The organization has a membership of more than 3,000 facilities in Australia. As a third-party accreditation body, NATA is an invaluable part of the cold chain for encouraging consumer confidence in the food products that make it to dinner tables across Australia. Temperature calibration services help to ensure the overall safety of food products from the time they are produced to the time they are consumed by customers.