LIMS in Food Safety Traceability Efforts

Molkerei Alois Müller (U.K.) is a market leader in European dairy products. The Müller U.K. site specializes in yogurt products, from low-fat yogurt to yogurt and cereal combinations. Müller U.K. sales have increased annually since the company entered the U.K. market because of its focus on quality and innovation. In fact, the state-of-the-art production facility at Market Drayton that opened in 1992 has expanded significantly several times to add more manufacturing, warehouse, and distribution capability. Today, Müller’s Market Drayton factory produces more than a third of all yogurt eaten in the U.K.

The Müller U.K. labs are mainly focused on production QC, but they also test product from the start of the process. Milk from farms arrives by tanker and is passed by pumps into silos, then separated into skim milk and cream, with some skim into concentrate. Yogurt mixes are made in tanks and batch sterilized. If the batch meets specifications, it is processed through a heat exchanger, cooled, and placed in an incubation tank where culture is added. Every step in the process undergoes quality checks. During incubation, the pH is monitored and checked every two hours. After eight to nine hours of incubation, the pH has dropped, and a final pH check is made when the yogurt is cooled. Given the manual testing and recording being used, there were many places a LIMS could automate and expedite QC tasks.

The decision to implement a LIMS was driven by the increase in production demand and justified by the need to increase the lab’s efficiency. Müller U.K.’s paper-based system for tracking and reporting QC data was supplemented by Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. A LIMS would dramatically reduce the amount of error-prone paperwork while expediting testing. The LIMS was also expected to assist real-time monitoring of Müller’s production processes and play a pivotal role in ensuring quality control for finished product. By using a LIMS, Müller would be able to trend all data and make decisions and necessary improvements much faster.

Müller U.K. selected the LIMS to manage QC data for raw materials, in process, and finished dairy desserts. Integrating the LIMS with as many pieces of lab equipment as possible allows for automated data transfer and additional efficiencies. The milk reception processes managed by the LIMS were developed to include bar-coding samples from the tankers upon receipt, checking the milk for antibiotics, and checking the milk composition for fats, protein, lactose, and solids. Any out-of-specification parameters can be reported automatically. For example, if a tank fails antibiotics, it is rejected outright. The LIMS flags the result as being out of specification and automatically creates a report.

Involving the IT Team

Müller U.K.’s Information Technology (IT) team worked closely with the lab team to select and implement the LIMS. A dedicated IT person ensures the integrity of the solution. IT reviewed distribution of all the QC information; people were asked for their requirements, and they were provided with the appropriate reports. With the LIMS, IT determined the access privileges to the data, which included sample reports, daily averages, and moving averages. These are all read-only reports, and certain reports, such as sales, are restricted to a for-your-eyes-only status that can only be accessed by levels with the authority to do so. The reports are more accurate and stay consistent within the system. Interfaces to various instruments and lots now ensure that there are no input or copying errors.