With food safety top of mind for many retailers across the nation, it’s a good idea to take proactive steps now to ensure your operations are up to code and you have a sound HACCP plan in place and working. John Lupo of Grandma’s Bakery in White Bear Lake, Minnesota, likes to say that staying ahead is always less costly than working to play catch-up.

Food safety is the lifeline of any retail bakery, and the Retail Bakers of America is rolling out a new program for “Insured, Licensed & Inspected” bakeries. Market your bakery with an RBA Insured, Licensed & Inspected seal and show your customers that they can trust the quality of your products. Once your application is approved, you will be emailed an HTML code for your website, as well as an Insured, Licensed & Inspected logo that can be used in all marketing materials. 

The Insured, Licensed & Inspected stamp requires annual verification and will be the responsibility of the individual RBA member to renew. The RBA will require the following information: certificate of insurance, business license, state-issued resale certificate, and most recent health inspection report. To receive your Insured, Licensed & Inspected stamp, send the required documents and a $25 processing fee to the Retail Bakers of America. 

Equipment companies continue to help retailers with the latest innovations in washer and sanitation equipment, as well as new food safety tools.

To keep up with growing demand for the company’s line of automated washing and sanitizing equipment, Douglas Machines Corp. a year ago completed the relocation of its manufacturing facilities to a new 68,000-square-foot location in Clearwater, Florida. The move highlighted a nearly two-year transformation that triples manufacturing, assembly, testing and shipping areas.

The added space, combined with state-of-the-art computer modeling technology and new metal fabricating equipment like Mazak Laser Cutters and Accurpress Press Brakes, allows the company to increase efficiencies while improving quality.

In other developments, a new HACCP-compliant solution is being touted as an accurate tool to save foodservice operators time and money by eliminating the need for manual fridge, freezer and line-check monitoring, hand-recorded logs and emailed audits.

 DayMark Safety Systems and Hawk Safety in January announced a partnership through which the two companies deliver food safety management, temperature monitoring and compliance through an intuitive and comprehensive web application. The customizable Hawk solution, complete with robust hardware and user-friendly software designed for diverse foodservice environments, is now distributed by DayMark.

New from Air Oasis, the Bi-Polar Ice BPi200 uses a small electrical housing and carbon-fiber brushes to release airborne positive hydrogen and negative oxygen ions throughout the ice machine without creating ozone. The compact unit greatly reduces mold, yeast, bacteria, viruses and other pathogens, enhancing sanitation and extending service cycles.

From Omni-Rinse, its new Integrated Rinsing System is a warm-water rinse station for glasses and tools that incorporates rinsing as a step within the drink-making process, saving time and eliminating the chronic problem of unrinsed tools. The rinse process is hands-free and uses no electricity. The station mounts to a speed rack or wall.