Food Safety Focus | Seals

Hello All! 

I hope this message finds all of you and your families safe and well.

This food safety focus will be about Seals and the role they play in Food Defense.  

What are Seals?

For thousands of years, people all over the world have used seals of many different varieties to authenticate a document, or to prevent interference with a package or envelope by applying a seal, which had to be broken to open the container.  These seals testify that the contents of the container the seal is attached to are correct and as it should be, by the word of the one sealing the container.  

The seals we use today may be different from those used thousands of years ago, however the importance of them has not changed.  Each seal we use today for shipping and receiving has a number printed on the seal that makes it a one of a kind, unique seal.  This unique number must be recorded on the bill of lading that is attached to the load being loaded or unloaded and the numbers on the seal and the paperwork must match.  

For inbounds – Seals should never be broken without first checking the seal matches the bill of lading and then only by a Burris team member or authorized person; never by the driver.  Anyone can buy and place seals on a trailer and if we are not checking the numbers on the seals and matching that to the paperwork, we could have a load that has been tampered with or stolen from and we may not catch it.  Sealing trailers does not work if you don’t check the numbers on the seal and match it up with the paperwork.  If the numbers on the seal and the bill of lading do not match, then the customer/owner of the products on the trailer should be notified in writing that the trailer arrived with a different seal number than what is recorded on the bills.  It’s their product and they have a right to know something didn’t line up right.  It shows that we are checking the seal numbers, as we should always do.

Some programs make allowances for unsealed trailers and LTL (Less than Truck Load).  This can leave room for tampering and product theft, though, so be vigilant, please.  

If you are ever suspicious of something being not right with an inbound (Numbers not matching, product missing, powders or foreign materials on boxes, open boxes and packaging, etc.) make sure you contact your supervisor or manager immediately and bring it to their attention.

Thanks for all you do every Day,

Justin

Food Safety Manager

See All Messages:

4
Author: Trish Metts