Birko, a leader in providing food safety solutions to the protein processing, food and beverage industries, has introduced the Birko Shield, a new service to help protein processors create best-in-class food safety practices in their plants. The Birko Shield is part of The Birko Advantage, an integrated food safety solution combining the company's expertise in chemistry, equipment and technology for more efficient, economical and safer food plant operations.

As part of the Birko Shield, a technical team from Birko and its equipment division, Chad, will map a plant's current process, food safety practices and intervention program. Birko will then recommend specific interventions and methods that can help plants optimize their food safety processes while mitigating the growth and spread of foodborne pathogens during production and packaging.

"The Birko Shield gives plants a guide to our recommended best food safety practices within the industry," said Mark Swanson, Birko's CEO.

The recommendations are then overlaid onto a plant blueprint to illustrate where appropriate interventions should be utilized to create a robust multiple hurdle pathogen barrier.

"We use additional overlays to illustrate our recommendations for mixing and application equipment," said Dr. Elis Owens, Birko's senior microbiologist/chemist. "These help automate the use of interventions and control costs."

Birko offers a 20% guaranteed cost savings for those who implement The Birko Advantage in their plant. Processors will see an immediate return on investment through chemical cost analysis, automated sanitation practices and more efficient use of existing resources.