Kosher and Halal Food Safety Profiled in Quality Digest

BatchMaster Software, Inc. has provided advanced ERP solutions for over two decades with more than one thousand five hundred installations worldwide. BatchMaster’s customers can be found in every formula or recipe-based business, including food, beverage, cosmetic, personal care, paint, coating, nutraceutical, pharmaceutical, and specialty chemical industries. Flexible, easy to learn and use, and scalable to grow with a process manufacturing business, BatchMaster is the definitive solution for the challenges facing small to midsize process manufacturers. BatchMaster has more than a hundred technical staff numbers of highly-qualified software professionals.

Quality Digest recently profiled the role of BatchMaster as one of the industries food ERP leaders and some of the nuances of kosher and halal foods.

Food allergies and sensitivities affect one-third of all Americans, and kosher foods’ clear labeling makes it easy for consumers to find dairy- and meat-free products. The U.S. Jewish population is shrinking while the Muslim population is growing, which ironically is rejuvenating the kosher market, because the dietary restrictions for Muslims are similar to those for Jews.

Halal food products—those complying with Islamic dietary rules—represent an $80 billion world market in 2007. For meat to be halal, an animal has to be slaughtered in a ritual way known as Zibah. Halal is like kosher in that it requires animals to be healthy at the time of slaughter, because carrion is forbidden. In addition, the animal’s jugular vein, carotid artery and windpipe have to be severed by a razor-sharp knife in a single swipe, so as to cause as little pain as possible. The difference is that a rabbi will read from the kashruth, and a Muslim will recite tanmiya.

ISO 22000 is the newest international standard for food safety management systems and requires a rigorous ISO audit to confirm eligibility. ISO 22000 emphasizes communication, systems management, prerequisite programs and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s HACCP principles to ensure complete food safety along the food chain. Manufacturing facilities must be structured to dynamically integrate quality and food safety management programs, assuring the ability to produce high-quality, safe products.

According BatchMaster’s vice president, Preston Blevins, “Technology solutions must help food manufacturers achieve ISO 22000 certification. The combination of kosher and halal qualifications, as well as ISO 22000, allows food manufacturers to keep a higher commitment to quality.”

In the current issue of Quality Digest manufacturing journalist Thomas R. Cutler profiles how BatchMaster ERP is central to food safety. The article may be read in its entirety at: http://qualitydigest.com/IQedit/QDarticle_text.lasso?articleid=12074