2004 Food Quality Award

Once the product has been treated with ammonium hydroxide, it moves to a roller press freezer, a device that Roth invented. The gigantic roller rapidly flattens and contact freezes the meat in just 90 seconds. The technique, according to BPI, minimizes dehydration, locks in freshness and maintains the microbiological characteristics of the finished products.

As it comes off the roller press freezer, the product passes through an in-process metal detector, is formed into 60 pound blocks and is then packed into boxes. The whole process from its raw stage at the accumulator to the boxed finished product takes approximately 7 to 9 minutes. Sealed boxes pass through another metal detector and are then coded, dated and sent to a cold storage facility, where they are palletized for storage and shipment.

All processing equipment within BPI facilities is constructed of stainless steel. Walls are tile with non-absorbent epoxy between the tiles. All floor and wall mounted equipment are separated from surface areas by “sealed standoffs” so that cleaning can be done behind stationary items.

All flooring is brick and all floor drains are stainless steel with built-in chemical feed lines for continuous sanitization. Clean-in- place sanitation systems are used throughout BPI facilities and can re-circulate 40,000 gallons of water per minute at 190 degrees Fahrenheit with 160 psi for cleaning.

The tops and bottoms of raw material conveyors are outfitted with sanitizing misters. Metal detectors are also used on incoming raw materials.

Approximately 20 percent of the budget for BPI’s newest plant in South Sioux City was spent on food safety and sanitation. Outside the process area of the Sioux City plant, air is refrigerated, washed and sanitized before being pumped into process areas. The chilled air creates a positively pressurized environment that inhibits contaminated air from entering. Refrigerating the air in a room outside the processing area also eliminates the need for refrigeration coils, which can harbor bacteria. Air handling equipment and ductwork also have clean-in-place capabilities.

Along with stringent HACCP and SSOP programs, BPI’s QA department monitors and records chemical and microbiological results on incoming raw materials as well as finished products.

The QA team draws a small sample of BPI boneless trimmings from each box as it is being filled—approximately every 10 seconds from the product flow. The sample becomes part of a composite model representing each box. Samples are then sent to an independent laboratory for microbiological analysis, while BPI’s in-house staff determines fat, moisture and protein content.

Each box is bar coded and the information is entered into a corporate QA-computerized pallet tracking system.

BPI plants and its cold storage facility are forever linked to a master control center at its corporate headquarters. Each facility communicates critical information in real time, and that info includes times, temperatures, pressures, production speeds, refrigeration and hydraulic data to a master control room that two technicians operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

“I didn’t really like the idea of this at first,” Roth admits. “I thought it was like big brother watching everything, but it really created a lot of camaraderie. If somebody wants to make a change in a process, they make a call on their radio and that comes over the corporate phone system. We have a saying, ‘communicate and cooperate.’ If you can maintain this, it is a huge advantage.”

Modest Manufacturers

In addition to the ammonium hydroxide process, BPI designs and assembles its own block grinders and process pumps, an endeavor it embarked on after numerous problems it endured with process equipment made by other manufacturers. BPI also makes its own sanitary piping ferrules and gaskets.