The FDA’s New Era of Smarter Food Safety

How Kelsius and the FoodCheck system align with The FDA’s recent findings.

Reliable Temperature Monitoring means a Safer Food System

The U.S. Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) have released a blueprint outlining an approach that will be taken over the next decade to create a safer food system for all consumers. Due to the effect the pandemic has had on consumer behaviours; they believe that modern approaches are required for these modern times.

Their Goal

The FDA’s end goal is to trace the origins of contaminated food to its source in minutes and/or seconds, so when public health is at risk their response is as instant as possible. To achieve this, real-time and data-driven approaches will be taken to fulfil the FDA’s aim of creating end-to-end traceability throughout the food safety system. They have acknowledged that to be successful, all levels of the food supply chain must join together including technology firms and food regulators.

Our Contribution

Kelsius have been market leaders in the food safety industry for 18 years and are proud to be supplying some of the biggest food producing companies with our real-time temperature monitoring system not only in Ireland, but across the UK and worldwide.

The Kelsius FoodCheck system has a built-in feature where a selected member of staff receives an instant alert if there has been a sudden change in temperature. These alerts can be sent via SMS, email or a visual alarm. Often, basic human error can result in a fridge or freezer being left open or incorrectly shut. FoodCheck, our paperless HACCP system, ensures these mistakes can be resolved in time to prevent product contamination and loss of produce.

Shared Values

The FDA hopes to create a safer food system to improve the quality of life for consumers globally, a core value that is also shared among the Kelsius team. We are committed to producing high standard, fully automated systems to our customers to give them peace of mind that their produce is safe for customers.

Read full article: https://www.fda.gov/food/new-era-smarter-food-safety

“Records are easily and securely accessed for each location and the reporting is what really sets the system apart. This makes life much easier for a HACCP audit or inspection.”

William Day, IT Director, Five Guys UK

“We have Kelsius Food Safety System installed in the store now for a number of years, and to be quite honest, I couldn’t imagine the food safety system working without it.”

Mary McGroarty, Centra Rochestown

Kelsius Customer Statement in relation to COVID-19

Dear Customers,

With the increasing spread of Covid-19, Kelsius would like to assure our customers that we are taking all necessary precautions to reduce exposure to this virus and clarify the following:

  • Kelsius are currently implementing a Coronavirus Prevention Policy
  • All Kelsius employees have been issued with Work Place guidelines
  • Where possible, employees are encouraged to work from home
  • Hygiene measures and social distancing policies are in place for anyone in Kelsius offices
  • Facilities have been put in place to assist staff conduct meetings remotely
  • International Travel has been suspended

We want to assure you that:

  • Kelsius Customer Support Helpdesk is operational at full capacity
  • Kelsius do not foresee any impact of our Supply Chain and are in constant contact with our suppliers to monitor the situation.
  • Kelsius’ Management are conducting regular remote review meetings to ensure our policy is in line with all the latest developments.
  • The safety of our Employees, Customers and the General Public are of the utmost importance to Kelsius and we will take all the necessary precautions to ensure everyone’s safety is protected.

Kelsius want you all to stay safe and take care during this period. Please follow the guidelines laid out by your National Health Organisation. If you have any questions or require any update on our policy please contact support@kelsius.com

Kelsius Sponsor Award Category at the National Q Mark Awards

Kelsius were delighted to attend National Q Mark Awards recently and to Sponsor an Award at the prestigious event.
These awards celebrate excellence and dedication in the work place and that is something Kelsius fully supports.

The Event was packed to capacity and held on Friday 27th September in the Clayton Hotel Burlington Road.
Master of Ceremonies Jonathan Healy was Host on the night and did a fantasitc job as usual.

Karl Simmons (COO) and Keith Hicks (National Account Manager) repesented Kelsius and presented the Award Kelsius were sponsoring- The National Q Mark for Hygiene and Food Safety- Recognised for Excellence Retails Supermarkets.

Quish’s SuperValu Ballingcollig took home the Award for 2019.

Kelsius would like to congratulation Quish’s for this reconigition of their dedication and endeavour to Food Safety.

Kelsius would like to congratualte Quish’s and all the winners on the night, it is just rewards for all the effort over the past year.

Indeed Kelsius would like to extend congratualtions to all the finalists on being recognised. Congratulations and keep up the good work!

Kelsius win Best Software Solutions Provider at Checkout NRSA Awards

Donegal based digital food safety company, Kelsius is celebrating after winning Best Software Solutions Provider at this year’s Checkout National Retail Supplier Awards.

This is the second time in three years that Kelsius have taken home this prestigious Award.

Fighting off stiff competition in this hotly anticipated category, the award recognised the company’s own technology, FoodCheck, which has been instrumental in changing the food preparation and storage practices of a host of well-known Irish retailers including Applegreen, SuperValu, Centra & Musgrave.

Judges recognised Kelsius paperless HACCP and temperature monitoring solution is helping store owners and managers to protect their customers from a food borne illness outbreak as a result of food being prepared in their stores.

Kelsius beat of formidable competition to claim the award. Renowned and successful software companies CBE and Intouch.com were runner up in this category further reinforcing the achievement.

Editor of Checkout Jenny Whelan said, “Congratulations to Kelsius for winning the Best Software Solutions Provider at this year’s Checkout National Retail Supplier Awards. The judges were won over by Kelsius’ FoodCheck system, which has become the go-to solution when it comes to HAACP in this country.”

Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Logan said, “We are delighted to be recognised for our technology, which has made a significant difference to many companies across Ireland and further afield. This award further reinforces how our technology is leading the way in the retail industry. I would like to thank the staff in all Departments who’s hard work ensures the solution we provide is the highest standard possible.”

Local Politicians Congratulate Kelsius

TD Pearse Doherty, Senator Brian O’Domhnaill congratulate Kelsius on prestigious Deloitte Listing.
Kelsius would like to thank some of our local representatives for their kind words of congratulations on our recent listing in the Deloitte Technology Fast 50.

TD Pearse Doherty
TD Doherty said “I was delighted to have received a tour earlier today of the Kelsius Facility and meet its team based in Falcarragh. Such a pioneering and creative firm which is at the cutting edge of developing new technologies to meet the needs of industry and finding solutions to some of the challenges faced by business today in the catering, food service and medical sectors.
It is a phenomenal achievement by Kelsius having been named among the Top 50 fastest growing companies in Ireland by Deloitte! This award is a testament to the hard work and talent of the local workforce and is a huge accolade for Irish Tech, despite the infrastructural challenges firms face here such as broadband and access #Comhghairdeas”

Pictured Left to Right: Ciaran Gallagher, Andrew Logan, Pearse Doherty, John Sheamais O’Fearraigh, Damian McKeever, Karl Simmmons

Senator Brian O’Domhnaill
Senator Ó Domhnaill said “I want to express my own heartfelt congratulations to the entire team at Kelsius. This award is recognition of the immense dedication and commitment of the company management and staff and to an excellent product offering. The Deloitte fast 50 listing is testament to the fact that Kelsius is a cutting edge Irish Technology company, utilising technological advancements to address challenges and provide solutions to end users of the product.
The top 50 listing includes other much larger and more centrally based companies which goes to indicate the true scale of the Kelsius success. I wish the company ongoing continued success and again wish to convey my congratulations.”
Kelsius greatly appreciate both Pearse and Brian taking time out from their busy schedules to appreciate the great work being done here at Kelsius. This award is a testament to this work as highlighted by our CEO Andrew Logan- “The Deloitte Fast 50 award is recognition that Kelsius is performing on a world stage. Our continued growth is a testament to the support of our clients and the constant desire for improvement of our product offering.”

Kelsius ranked 36 in Deloitte Technology Fast 50 2018

Kelsius attributes its growth to a fantastic team and excellent products.
Falcarragh, Donegal, 12/11/2018 — Kelsius today announced that it ranked number 36 in the 2018 Deloitte Technology Fast 50, a ranking of the 50 fastest growing technology companies in Ireland. Rankings are based on average percentage revenue growth over four years. Kelsius are the only Donegal Representative on the list and one of only four companies from the North West region.
Kelsius’ CEO, Andrew Logan, credits the fantastic team within the company and the excellent product set being behind the company’s growth over the past four years. He said, “The Deloitte Fast 50 award is recognition that Kelsius is performing on a world stage. Our continued growth is a testament to the support of our clients and the constant desire for improvement of our product offering.”

Cumulatively, the 2018 Fast 50 winners generated approximately €2.5 billion in total annual revenues in 2017. The average revenue of companies featured in the ranking was approximately €50 million, while the average growth rate of the companies over the last four years was 373%. Compared with last year, there are 17 new companies on the ranking. 12 of these are first-time entrants, while five companies have re-entered the list, having featured in previous years.
All four provinces are featured in this year’s awards. 27 of the winners are Leinster-based, 14 are based in Ulster, followed by Munster with 8 companies, and Connacht with 1 company. Overall, 12 counties are represented in the 2018 listing.

Announcing the winners at the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 programme, David Shanahan, Partner, Deloitte, said: “Congratulations to our 2018 Deloitte Technology Fast 50 companies. Through these awards, we recognise Irish technology companies that are at the cutting edge, using technology for progress, to address the challenges that we all face and to create opportunities, both for themselves and for those that use their products.
“We know that these companies are operating in an uncertain international marketplace. And yet they are prospering against this backdrop – in fact, it was particularly evident this year that the vast majority of revenues for the ranking companies are coming from export markets. This demonstrates the impact Irish indigenous tech companies are having in global markets.”
The Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Awards took place in Dublin on 2 November 2018 and were hosted by science and technology journalist, and founder of Whipsmart Media, Jonathan McCrea. Keynote speaker on the night was Mark Casey, Global Leader of Telecoms, Media & Entertainment at Deloitte.
Details of the full Deloitte Technology Fast 50 ranking list are available to download at www.fast50.ie.

Hotel & Catering Review Gold Medal Awards

Kelsius would to offer our congratulations to a number of our Clients who have been shortlisted as finalists in the Hotel & Catering Review Gold Medal Awards.

The Awards are taking place on the 26th of September 2017 at The Lyrath Estate Hotel, Kilkenny.

Well done on being named as finalists and good luck in the finals! We would like to congratulate the following businesses and people (Finalist Categories in Brackets) who Kelsius are delighted to work with:

Ashford Castle

(Ireland’s Five Star Hotel, Ireland’s Wine Experience, Ireland’s Guest Experience)

Sheen Falls Lodge

(Ireland’s Five Star Hotel, Ireland’s Best Hotel Website, Ireland’s Wine Experience)

Kelly’s Resort Hotel

(Ireland’s Four Star Resort, Family Friendly Hotel Finalists)

The Portmarnock Hotel and Golf Links

(Ireland’s Four Star Resort, Ireland’s Best Hotel Website)

The Merrion Hotel

(Ireland’s Guest Experience)

Roisin Dubh Restaurant, Renvyle House Hotel

(Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way Restaurant)

Seasons at Guinness Storehouse

(Ireland’s Event Caterer)

Aramark at University Hospital Galway

(Ireland’s Healthcare Caterer)

Individual Awards:

Justin O’Connor of Seasons at Guinness Storehouse (Ireland’s Executive Chef of the Year)

Sandeep Bhoojedhur of Seasons at Guinness Storehouse (Ireland’s Rising Star Chef of the Year)

Stephen Connolly of Clarion Hotel Dublin Liffey Valley (Ireland’s Rising Star Chef of the Year)

Congratulations to all and best of luck!!

Testimonial from the Marine Institute Galway

Dr. Yvonne Bogan discusses how Kelsius and the CoolCheck system has been of benefit to the Marine Institute, based in Oranmore Co. Galway.

“We had the Kelsius Temperature Monitoring System installed in the Laboratories in January 2017. It has been a smooth transition to the Kelsius System and has been readily assimilated into our Quality Management System.
The Kelsius System simply “works in the background” and provides us with reliable on-going monitoring of over 100 items of equipment.

As the system is completely wireless, this has really been a huge benefit in all the labs and addition of probes to new items of equipment is effortless.

The support from the Kelsius Team has been immense, queries are always responded to promptly and staff are professional and extremely helpful.

A huge benefit of this system for the Marine Institute Laboratories is the ability to identify temperature trends with our equipment, via the visual display. The system is practical to use and also saves time and the dashboard allows all information to be readily displayed. The temperature data and associated information is available to all staff at any time, using a simple login.The fact that daily and weekly reports are emailed to the relevant personnel has allowed a paperless system to be rationalized throughout the laboratories.

Overall an extremely efficient and effective system that is now implemented into our laboratories.”

Dr. Yvonne Bogan, Quality Manager, Marine Environment and Food Safety Services, Marine Institute, Galway

Kelsius Wins Award for its Technology

Donegal based digital food safety company, Kelsius is celebrating after winning Best Software Solutions Provider at this year’s Retail Supplier Awards.

Fighting off stiff competition in this hotly anticipated category, the award recognised the company’s own technology, FoodCheck, which has been instrumental in changing the food preparation and storage practices of a host of well-known

Irish retailers including Applegreen, SuperValu, Centra & Musgrave.

Judges recognised FoodCheck’s ability to help retailers streamline their HACCP temperature monitoring processes to ensure they can avoid a food borne illness outbreak when food was being prepared on-site. This protects customers and storeowners from the catastrophic fall-out this situation can bring – as well as the cost and time savings for the retailer.

Kelsius beat of formidable competition to claim the award. Renowned and successful software companies CBE, Retail Solutions and SensorPro were runner up in this category further reinforcing the achievement.

The company is the leading supplier of paperless HACP systems in Ireland, as well as securing global deals in the Middle East, Europe and Australia.

Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Logan said, “We are delighted to be recognised for our technology, which has made a significant difference to many companies across Ireland and further afield. It has been a busy few years for the company after signing significant deals with FiveGuys UK and Applegreen and this award further reinforces how our technology is leading the way in the retail industry.”

Editor of Checkout Jenny Whelan said, “Congratulations to Kelsius for winning the Best Software Solutions Provider at this year’s Checkout National Retail Supplier Awards. The judges were won over by Kelsius’ FoodCheck system, which has become the go-to solution when it comes to HAACP in this country.”

View all the photos here:

052_NRSA_2016

Food Hygiene Rates ‘Scores on the Doors’ are now mandatory in Northern Ireland. Here’s how FoodCheck can improve your rating

The Food Standards Agency of Northern Ireland has formally implemented the Food Hygiene Rating Act (Northern Ireland) 2016 meaning that by law all Food Service businesses must display the score obtained by local district councils. Scores range from 0 to 5, with 0 being lowest and 5 being highest.

This replaces the voluntary system that had been in place since 2011. It is anticipated by the Food Standards Agency that 90% of food businesses will be displaying their stickers within two months.

This development will give the public full transparency of a business’s Food Safety rating and place a greater emphasis on Food Safety for all food business Owners and Managers.

This means that restaurants, hotels, supermarkets, cafes, shops or takeaways that sell food will be required to display their ‘score on the door’ mark. Hospitals, Schools and Care Homes are also not exempt and will also be required to take action and display their rating.

Protecting your Business

There are 765,000 cases of food poisoning in the UK and Ireland each year. An association with an outbreak can be disastrous for a business. Implications such as closure, monetary fines and reputation damage can be extremely difficult to recover from, if possible at all.

The cost of poor hygiene and food safety.

With this in mind and with the public’s safety at hand, it is vital that businesses are doing their utmost to protect their customers from food safety concerns. Gaining and maintaining a high score will be paramount to keeping your customers coming through the doors and spending their hard earned money with you.

How is my score calculated?

As per the scoresonthedoors.org.uk website “A food safety officer from the local authority where the business is located inspects a business to check that it meets the requirements of food hygiene law. The officer will check:

  • How hygienically the food is handled. How it is prepared, cooked, re-heated, cooled and stored
  • The condition of the structure of the buildings. The cleanliness, layout, lighting, ventilation and other facilities
  • How the business manages and records what it does to make sure food is safe

The hygiene standards are then rated on a scale of 0 – 5 where 5 is highest.

What does my score mean?

This is the guide to help you understand what your score mean and what needs to be done to improve.

0- Urgent Improvement Necessary
1- Major Improvement Necessary
2- Improvement Necessary
3- Generally Satisfactory
4- Good
5- Very Good

How FoodCheck can help you?

FoodCheck paperless HACCP system can help you manage and maintain your HACCP records, while streamlining your food safety process and prevent falsification offering you complete peace of mind. FoodCheck can protect your business and livelihood while saving you time and money.

How will FoodCheck do this?

  • Remove Paper for your HACCP operation
  • Reduce the amount time and workload involved in HACCP
  • Eliminate Time Spent on Manual Checks of Fridges and Freezers
  • Full transparency to Management of all HACCP records
  • Peace of mind knowing HACCP records are safe and secure come Audit Time
  • Safe in the knowledge you will be alerted should you have an issue with a fridge or freezer
  • Reminders prompting staff to complete Important Tasks
  • Reporting of Daily, Weekly and/or Monthly Usage
  • Usage & Exception Reporting- Weekly highlights areas for improvement
  • Tamper proof records ensuring they are correct, accurate and prevent falsification- E.H.O’s love this!

But don’t just take our word for it:

“I have had FoodCheck in my shop for over 5 years now. It has greatly reduced the amount of time and money we spend on HACCP. We could not imagine being without the system.”

Paul Dorrity, Centra Glenshane, Derry

“In November 2015 we installed Kelsius FoodCheck system in our Deli Department. Before installation our staff had over 15 sign off sheets, from Cleaning Sheets to Traceability. This has reduced the vast amount of paperwork which has been replaced by the tablet.

The Kelsius FoodCheck has removed the risk of human error in relation to temperature and traceability management.

The tablet encourages staff to use the system, as it is so easy to input records, saving time and money.”

Noelle Keenan, SuperValu Flemmings, Monaghan

“FoodCheck benefits our business by giving us the peace of mind that all of our HACCP records from delivery, cleaning, storage and cooking are accurate, safe and true. The ability to be logged in from anywhere and see live data is fantastic. Our Environmental health officer calls it the Rolls Royce of food safety and I would have to agree.”

Paul Gallagher, Head Chef, Doubletree by Hilton, Milton Keynes