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National Vegetarian Week

It’s National Vegetarian Week and so we thought we would ask this question: “Can reheating rice cause food poisoning?” The simple answer is YES! However it is not the reheating that causes the problem but the way the rice has been stored before it was reheated. Many outbreaks of food poisoning which emerge from the catering industry are found to be caused by the inadequate cooking of food. In some foods the bacterium that is associated with food poisoning is not eliminated by the cooking process and therefore, if food is held at temperatures ranging from room to very warm temperatures (20⁰C to 63⁰C) for a few hours, the spores of the bacteria germinate and multiply to dangerous levels. The longer cooked rice is left at room temperature the more likely it is that bacteria or toxins could make the rice … Read more

Explore Comark’s Newest Products at NRA Show 2016 in Chicago

From May 21 – 24, Comark will be at the National Restaurant Association’s NRA Show 2016 at McCormick Place in Chicago for the largest single gathering of restaurant, food service and lodging professionals. Join us at Stand 3348 to learn more about our most recent innovations in high quality, precision thermometers, data loggers and wireless monitoring solutions. The Comark Team – including our recently appointed GM, Lika Dutta – will be on hand to discuss products like the newly introduced HACCP Touch, the easy and cost-effective system that enables food service professionals to collect, record and store daily temperatures of critical items as they are prepped, cooked and held. Additionally, food service professionals can learn about the Allergen Thermometer, which is color-coded for food allergy procedures in kitchens that regularly handle milk, nuts, fish and other allergens. Comark representatives will … Read more

Food Safety Guidelines from Sentencing Council

Sentencing Council Introduces Guidelines for Food Safety Offences

As of Feb. 1, 2016, the Sentencing Council has introduced new guidelines for food safety offences – in addition to health and safety offences and corporate manslaughter. The guidelines have been developed with the intention of providing comprehensive sentencing guidance for judges and magistrates in England and Wales charged with sentencing for the most common food safety offences. With the implementation the new guidelines, “fines for offences [will be] fair and proportionate to the seriousness of the offence and the means of offenders.” To accomplish this, sentences vary to “reflect the very different levels of risk of harm that can result from offences.” Because food safety offences can result in a wide range of consequences – from minor illness to hospitalization or even death – it is vital that kitchens implement proper food safety standards. Comark’s temperature monitoring solutions aid … Read more

Six Steps to a Safe and Delicious Thanksgiving Turkey

For Americans, Thanksgiving is just a few Thursdays away – a holiday where roughly 88 percent of Americans consume turkey, according to CNN. With 1.7 percent of turkey testing positive for salmonella in 2014, according to the USDA, it’s important to make sure your holiday meal is prepared safely. Below are six steps to a delicious and safe Thanksgiving turkey. 1. Check to be sure your meat has been kept at the correct temperature throughout the storage process. A data logger from Comark is an easy and cost effective tool to log transport data across any distance. 2. If your turkey has been frozen, use the Pocketherm from Comark to keep track of its status as you defrost. Safely defrost in the refrigerator, in cold water or in the microwave, but never leave meat out on the counter to thaw, … Read more

Checklist Day: Four Steps to a Safe and Paperless Kitchen

The paperless kitchen is the modern choice for ensuring that compliance standards are met, and maintaining a safe kitchen – free from food-borne illness. In honor of Checklist Day – a holiday dating back to the 1930s when pilots fist began implementing a safety checklist prior to taxiing down the runway – Comark is providing a list of how, by incorporating the HAACP Touch HT100, chefs can rest assured their dishes meet compliance and food safety standards. Before you begin to prepare the day’s meals, check data recorded by the HAACP Touch. It collects, records and stores daily temperatures of items. This paperless data management tool simplifies and automates the important daily steps that can lead to food-safety disaster if not properly maintained. Check temperatures regularly. As food moves through the cooking process – from prep to cooking and holding … Read more

Comark Experts: Q&A with Product Marketing Director Michael Hall

Food safety technology is taking a more prominent role in kitchens and food processing facilities now. Handheld temperature monitoring devices and wireless data logging solutions are perfectly positioned to help food service providers take quality products to market, with customer safety as their primary ingredient. In this interview, we talk with Michael Hall, Director of Product Marketing at Comark Instruments, about the state of the temperature-monitoring industry, and the role Comark’s products are playing. Q. What type of temperature monitoring functionality is most “in-demand” now – particularly among restaurants? A. It is an exciting time to be a part of the temperature monitoring industry. Let’s say we have a restaurant following a food safety process and HACCP Regulations. It may have three freezers, two fridges, and a walk-in cooler – all of which need to be monitored throughout the day. That means someone … Read more

Comark Instruments Introduces M9 Software Upgrade for RF500 Monitoring Solution

With delivering best-in-class Temperature Monitoring solutions and a desire for continuous improvement as primary focuses, Comark Instruments has announced the release of a new software upgrade for the well-established RF500 Monitoring System. “Providing innovative temperature monitoring solutions that meet and exceed our customers’ expectations is at the heart of what we do,” says Comark Director of Product Marketing Mick Hall. “By upgrading the already user-friendly RF500 software to the M9 interface, we are delivering on our commitment to continue providing advanced, compliant-focused solutions. The M9 software interface will enhance user experience, and provide customers with new levels of monitoring capabilities.” Developed with valuable insight from customers, the M9 software upgrade will bolster the Comark RF500’s software application with new features and technical enhancements that complement its existing industry leading 24/7 monitoring of temperature, humidity and door event data through energy-efficient … Read more

The Future of Food Temperature Monitoring

From smoke houses and salt storage, to the early days of refrigeration, food storage technologies – and food safety solutions – have constantly improved. So what comes next in the life of temperature monitoring? The answer is automation. In recent years, temperature monitoring has relied largely on people. As with any manual task, human error can affect data consistency, quality and accuracy of that work, and in the case of monitoring, result in inadequate or unsafe conditions. With wireless and paperless temperature monitoring solutions from Comark, however, automation drastically reduces the chances for human error to occur. In addition to more accurate records, an automated system allows for constant monitoring, expectations that are far too time-consuming and costly to expect of a manual monitor. And with continuous auditing, HAACP compliance reporting and observation, facilities are alerted to the slightest fluctuation … Read more