New Enhancement: Characteristics

Well, the New Year is drawing nearer and the time has come for us to reveal the forthcoming enhancement to product characteristics, including major additions to standards testing - designed to make data more robust both internally and throughout the entire supply chain.

What is the upcoming characteristics enhancement?

We are introducing a more comprehensive list of standards testing available for Manufacturers to document how they ensure their product is consistent, as well as a host of other new attributes related to product characteristics.

What are the characteristics being added?

It’s a veritable list of additions! The characteristics attributes we are adding are:

• Organoleptics Attributes (Taste, Aroma, Appearance, Texture)
• Hazard Control Method Declarations
• Cheese Format
• Egg Source
• Cheese Flavour Strength
• Milk Type
• Mould Ripened Cheese
• Pasteurised
• Desinewed Meat
• Reformend
• Skeletal Bones
• Fried During Manufacturer
• Skin
• Closure Type
• Cut Details

And the full (extremely robust) list of the standards testing attributes from 8 January is:

• Bacillus Cereus
• Campylobacter
• Clostridium Botulinum
• Clostridium Perfringens
• Coliforms
• E. Coli
• Enterobacteriaceae
• Listeria SPP
• Listeria Monocytogenes
• Staphylococcus Aureus
• Total Viable Count (TVC)
• Salmonella
• Acidity
• Added Water
• Brix °Bx
• Chip Length < 25mm (max by weight)
• Chip Length < 50mm (max by weight)
• Chip Length < 75mm (max by weight)
• Colour AGTRON
• Colour USDA
• Defects Gross diameter > 12mm pieces per
• Defects Gross diameter 6-12mm pieces per
• Defects Gross diameter 3-6mm pieces per
• Dimensions Diameter
• Dimensions Height

• Dimensions Length
• Dimensions Thickness
• Dimensions Width
• Fat Content (%)
• Fish Content
• Glaze Level
• Meat Content
• Milk Solids
• Moisture
• Peroxide Value (PV)
• pH
• Salt Content
• Slivers (Max)
• Weight
• Collagen to Meat Protein Ratio
• Calorie Content
• Histamine
• Mercury Hg
• Yeast
• Moulds
• Aerobic Colony Count (ACC)
• Coagulase-positive Staphylococci
• Enterobacter Sakazakii
• Vibrio Species
• Sugar Content

• Ash
• Carbonation
• Dry residue at 180°C
• Acrylamide
• Specific Gravity
• Water Activity
• Visual Lean
• Extraneous vegetable matter
• Feathering
• Pin Bones
• Bone Target
• Carcass Cavity
• Cartilage
• Trim level
• Gaping
• Sea Lice
• Black Spots
• Blemishes
• Blood Spots
• Brown Meat
• Bruising
• Damaged
• Maturation Time
• Heavy Metals
• Pesticides Residues
• Discoloration

Why are these attributes being added?

Further characteristics are being added to make our specification data more comprehensive for the product.

This robustness of the data will potentially allow Manufacturers to use Erudus as an internal system - particuarly given the added benefit that if this data is available on the specification it is also accessible to Wholesalers, and the Manufacturer will not need to respond to additional requests for this information.

Will the added characteristics also benefit Wholesalers?

Yes, there will be no need for Wholesalers to request this information if they need it or get asked for it from their customers. Saving time and resources.

Will users have to do anything differently to accommodate these new attributes?

No - Manufacturers should just review their specifications once the update drops to make sure they are taking advantage of all of the new fields available.

Got questions?

The Erudus Support team is always on hand to help. You can reach them via support@erudus.com or on 0333 121 89 99.

What next?

For now, you don’t need to do anything. But be sure to check our News section regularly for exclusive previews and updates about all the exciting new features and improvements coming to Erudus.

You can also find out about upcoming webinars on the changes coming to Erudus by visiting our Events page.