BakingBusiness.com | October 14, 2019 | by Joe Stout. Years ago as a consumer, I purchased a six-pack of chocolate chip cookies from a vending machine for an afternoon snack. My plan was to enjoy the cookies with a cup of coffee. As I started on the second cookie, I bit into a hard chocolate chip that […]

BakingBusiness.com | August 12, 2019 | by Joe Stout. During recent visits to bakery and snack production facilities, I noticed that more of them seem to be successfully implementing a 5S program. The five S’s are to sort, set in order, shine, standardize and sustain. Some have expanded this approach to 6S to include safety. Both approaches reduce […]

BakingBusiness.com | July 30, 2019 | by Dan Malovany. Following proper procedures protects belts and conveyors from a host of operational issues. As baked goods race along a production line at hundreds of pieces an hour, mishaps quickly multiply to mayhem, accidents become chain reactions and unanticipated incidents snowball into an avalanche of unscheduled downtime or something […]

BakingBusiness.com | 16 July 2018 | by Nico Roesler.   Reaching sanitation goals in a bakery can be like climbing a mountain. It’s a long journey with many obstacles. But upon reaching the summit, you can look back at what you’ve accomplished and revel in the rewards.

BakingBusiness.com | April 26, 2018 | by Joe Stout.     When bakers think of sanitation as a “must do,” they think of routine cleaning initiated when a plant stops a production run or does a product changeover. However, there are areas of equipment and a facility that are not accessible during routine cleaning. Hard-to-reach […]

BakingBusiness.com | November 13, 2017 | by Joe Stout.   With the ever-growing demand for ready-to-eat (R.-T.-E.) foods, some processors are faced with the decision of converting their raw, par-baked or ready-to-cook (R.-T.-C.) process to R.-T.-E. This could be a daunting choice, and knowing where to start is the first major challenge.

BakingandSnack.com | June 5, 2017 | by Joe Stout.   In my last column, I commented on the challenge of cleaning in the baking industry. Simply put, there is a war on water that focuses heavily on, unless absolutely necessary, reducing or stopping its use for cleaning in dry facilities. The use or presence of […]

SnackandBakery.com | April 2017.   The Sanitary Design Workshop is a unique educational opportunity presented by experts who are in the trenches and currently employed in snack and bakery facilities. The event is supported by a wide range of snack and bakery industry groups and associations. Commercial Food Sanitation’s President, Joe Stout, was proud to […]

BakingandSnack.com | April 10, 2017 | by Joe Stout.   Prior to working in a bakery/snack food plant, I spent several years in a Coca-Cola Enterprises bottling facility. I had responsibility for sanitation as quality manager. With this background, my experience entering the baking and snack industries was cleaning with water and detergents to ensure […]

Bakingandsnack.com | October, 2016 | by Joe Stout.   When it comes to new equipment, many baked goods processors often submit — and expect compliance to — a set of custom-designed standards. Well, that incorporates and solves our sanitation issues. Not! Equipment manufacturers often express frustration when bakers ask for a unique design specification that […]