Products & Technology News

Hands-Free Bootie Dispensers Help To Increase Safety

In large facilities, dozens of employees are often entering and exiting the processing area at the same time, going through limited access points and donning—or discarding—safety garments. The process can create bottlenecks. And, said Shoe Inn Product Manager Jeff Foster, “Putting on shoe covers tends to be one of those bottlenecks.”

While many food processing facilities require the use of booties or shoe covers, it is not the only industry to do so. In fact, an innovation that has been in use for about five years in other industries has only recently begun making inroads into food processing. That is, hands-free shoe cover dispensers. To use, workers put each shod foot in the dispenser, which automatically covers the shoe with a bootie. It also works in reverse to “suck” the bootie of the shoe when exiting.

While the use of a dispenser, which reduces time to don or shed a bootie down to seconds, can help relieve bottlenecks and increase productivity by reducing the amount of time workers spend donning safety garments, it also can be of value to both food and worker safety.

A University of Arizona study found that nine different species of bacteria exist on people’s shoes; these bacteria live longer on shoes than on other places; and 90 percent of the time, the bacteria will transfer to floors as people walk on them.

Additionally, “it’s almost inevitable that when you’re putting on shoe covers manually, you will touch your shoes,” Foster said. “Even though you wash your hands, it is one more point where you are introducing contaminants to your hands.” Thus, he said, using an automatic, hands-free dispenser is an additional safety mechanism to prevent transference of whatever may be on one’s shoes to food being processed.

When workers put on shoe covers, Foster added, they don’t always sit down to do so—or don’t even always have the option of a chair or bench in the area. When workers try to balance themselves or lean against a wall to put on the covers, it increases the potential for a fall, he said, adding that falls are not unknown even for workers who sit. Foster related an incident wherein a woman was sitting down, but as she lifted her leg to put on the cover, she lost her balance, fell, and broke her arm. “This doesn’t happen every day, but just the potential for this to happen can lead to a workers’ compensation claim,” he said.
 

Food Safety Test Kits Gain 2012 AOAC Validation

Following are methods that have been validated in 2012 by AOAC’s Performance Tested Methods Program for some of the top food safety concerns. The list below includes the manufacturer and test kit name (with license number) and the analytes and matrices for each as listed on the AOAC website. More information on matrices and approval certificates are available at www.aoac.org/testkits/testedmethods.html.

Food Allergens/Toxins
EnviroLogix, QuickTox Kit for QuickScan Aflatoxin (41201) ­— Analytes: Total Aflatoxins; Matrices: Ground Corn.

Neogen, Veratox Quantitative Gliadin R5 Test (61201) ­— Analytes: Prolamis from wheat (gliadin), barley (hordein) & rye (seccalin); Matrices: See Matrix Claims.

Campylobacter
Bio-Rad, iQ-Check Campylobacter (31209) ­— Analytes: Campylobacter jejuni, coli, and lari; Matrices: See Matrix Claims.

E. coli, O157 & H7
SA Scientific, SAS Molecular Tests Escherichia coli O157 Detection Kit (31203) ­— Analytes: Escherichia coli O157; Matrices: Selected Foods.

Listeria
Roka Bioscience, Roka Listeria Detection Assay (11201) ­— Analytes: Listeria spp.; Matrices: Selected Foods and selected environmental surfaces.

IEH Laboratories & Consulting Group, IEH Listeria spp. and Listeria monocytogenes Test System (21201) ­— Analytes: Listeria spp. and Listeria monocytogenes; Matrices: Raw beef trim, ready-to-eat turkey, stainless steel, plastic.

Pall GeneDisc Technologies, GeneDisc Plate Listeria monocytogenes Detection Kit (31204) ­— Analytes: Listeria monocytogenes; Matrices: Variety of Foods & Selected Environmental Surfaces.

Pall GeneDisc Technologies, GeneDisc Plate Listeria spp. Detection Kit (31205) ­— Analytes: Listeria spp.; Matrices: Variety of Foods & Selected Environmental Surfaces.

Pall GeneDisc Technologies, GeneDisc Plate Listeria DUO Detection Kit (31206) ­— Analytes: Listeria spp. and Listeria monocytogenes; Matrices: Variety of Foods and Selected Environmental Surfaces.

Pall GeneDisc Technologies, GeneDisc Plate Listeria Identification Kit (31207) ­— Analytes: L. monocytogenes, L. innocua, L. ivanovii, L. seeligeri, L. welshimeri and L. grayi; Matrices: Pure colonies from OXA, MOX, OAA, PALCAM, Rapid L. monocytogenes agar and nutrient Agar.

Salmonella
Roka Bioscience, Atlas Salmonella Detection Assay (31201) ­— Analytes: Salmonella enterica; Matrices: Variety of Foods & Selected Environmental Surfaces.

InstantLabs Medical Diagnostics, InstantLabs Salmonella Species Food Safety Kit (31202) ­— Analytes: Salmonella spp.; Matrices: Selected Foods.

3M, Molecular Detection Assay Salmonella (31208) ­— Analytes: Salmonella; Matrices: Selected Foods.

AOAC International is a globally recognized, independent, not-for-profit association that provides tools and processes to develop voluntary consensus or technical standards through stakeholder consensus and working groups in which the fit-for-purpose and method performance criteria are established and fully documented. AOAC provides a science-based solutions and its Official Methods of Analysis are accepted and recognized worldwide.