Level of control over production factors in an industrial bakery maker and its relationship with the number of returns due to molding

Abstract

Early mould on the shelf is a problem in the industrial production of bread. The presence, number and air transportability of fungal structures are subject to different factors specific to the food industry. The objectives of this work were to determine whether there is a correlation between the level of control over the factors specific to the production of industrial bread and the returns due to early mould on the shelf and to present improvements to guarantee high standards of control level. Regarding the first objective, a checklist was implemented consisting of the factors of Good Manufacturing Practices (Cr) and the production factors (CR+). The values “0” were assigned for non-compliance and “1” and “2” for compliance with the Cr and Cr+ respectively. The arithmetic means were then calculated, after applying the checklist 4 times per month for 5 months, to compare them with the number of returns due to mould recorded during the months under study. The linear correlation coefficient and p-value were calculated from this data. The improvements implemented were photographically recorded based on the checklist. It was found that there is a strong negative correlation between the level of control and returns due to molding (r= -0.9589; p-value=0.0099). The visualization of the problem allowed the company management to direct economic resources focused on guaranteeing the level of control, so the infrastructure was improved and new procedures and records were adopted. It was concluded that the higher the level of control in the production of industrial breads, the lower the returns due to molding.