In the baking industry, most ovens operate with natural gas for a working fuel source. The baking oven combustion equipment should be designed to operate safely and within the local governing safety codes. The Technical Standards and Safety Authority (TSSA) is a self-regulating, not-for-profit corporation mandated by the Ontario government to deliver public safety ·programs and services under Ontario’s Technical Standards & Safety Act, 2000. In 1997, the functions of Ontario’s public safety regulations were overtaken by the TSSA from the Ministry of Consumer and Commercial Relations, and as a result, the TSSA regulates several industries, including the commerce of baking ln Ontario, any bakery oven operating with a hydrocarbon (natural gas, propane, or oil) as its fuel source is required to meet both engineering and field inspection approvals by the TSSA. Combustion equipment installed to provide heat for the baking process must be designed and installed in accordance with Canadian Standards Association codes . ` Prior to any new baking oven being put into operation, it is supposed to undergo inspection. However, the equipment can be started and field adjusted for testing purposes by a licensed gas technician prior to field inspection and final approval. The approval process is divided into three main categories: Application for Approval, Engineering Approval, and Field Inspection and Approval. The Application for Approval must be submitted with documentation outlining the gaseous fuel equipment in detail. The TSSA engineering department reviews all the electrical and piping valve train diagrams, sequence of operations, and technical data submitted with the application to ensure that the oven’s combustion equipment is designed and built to operate within the technical and safety standards outlined by the governing codes for the fuel features of the oven. On review of the application and if the assigned TSSA engineering inspector deems the equipment is designed to operate within safety codes, the file is transferred for Field Inspection and testing by a local TSSA field inspector. During a visit to the bakery, the field inspector verifies that the gas equipment is built as per the specifications submitted with the application, and that the gas equipment is installed according to the governing fuel safety codes. The oven is then test-fired to check if the gas equipment is operating within safe- ty limits and as previously specified on paper to the TSSA engineering department. During this process, it is highly recommended that you have your licensed gas technician (responsible for the installation) on hand to answer any questions or discuss any issues that may arise with the field inspection. Furthermore, it is imperative that prior to field inspection, your electrical con- tractor has the oven approved by the Electrical Safety Authority (ESA). lt has become common practise for the TSSA to deny field approval of fuel-related equipment if the oven does not have a field approval label from the ESA. lf the oven’s fuel and air equipment pass all requirements of the TSSA, the field inspector will grant approval and furnish the oven with an approval label, at which time the equipment can be operated for production. The underlying principles behind the entire approval process are for public safety and to ensure compliance with the local gas codes. Almost all bakery owners are aware of the TSSA and the importance of safety, yet so many shy away from the  responsibility of having their gasfuelled ovens approved due to the costs associated with the process. Some bakers/owners argue the astronomical prices associated with the TSSA approval process are ridiculous and are not representative of a not-for—profit organization. The TSSA charges $l60.00 per hour, based on 15-minute increments. This is very expensive and an entire oven approval process on aver- age can cost $1 ,500 to $2,000, assuming the inspectors do not have any queries or discrepancies. The process is not cheap but should be considered an investment in operational safety, and if the equipment does not meet safety codes, it should be upgraded as soon as possible. All bakery ovens and related fuel equipment should be inspected. The safety of your workforce, your building, and your entire business is at risk if the combustion equipment on your oven is operating incorrectly and unsafely. Although rare, a tire or gas explosion can occur in ovens operating with fuel equipment that does not meet safety codes. Such an incident can put your employees at risk, cause insurance claims to be denied, and can effectively destroy your baking operation.

By: Adam Bzowski

Every earthquake has its aftershock. They sneak up on everyone while they’re busy surveying the damage caused by the initial quaker The baby boom generation was a kind of cultural earthquake. They were born en masse for about twenty years from the mid—forties to the mid—sixties. Boomers grew their hair, burned their bras, protested, discoed, went to concerts and then gave birth a whole generation of echo boomers through the early eighties to the mid—nineties. Echo boomers have been somewhat dormant consumers until now. They did cause the Pokemon craze and the Harry Potter phenomenon, but their direct purchasing power has traditionally been filtered through the parental finance committee. As the children of the baby boomers reach their teenage years, they will start to make their own decisions about the products they consume. Echo boomers will become a whole consumer segment in their own right and it’s important for us to know how to target them. Perhaps we should revisit the trends that developed as the original baby boom came of age? On the other hand, these echo boomers may be quite different from their parents. What businesses really want to know is, will the apple fall far from the tree? Baby boomers represent one third of Canada’s population. Echo boomers, while not reaching quite the numbers of their parents, represent 25 per cent of the Canadian population. The front-end echo boomers are just finishing college and entering the work force, while the last of the echo boomers are now nine years old. The peak of the echo boom came around l99O making the biggest group just fourteen years old going on fifteen. The echo boomers are one of the most studied groups in history and what experts have observed about them may surprise us. It is believed that the echo boomers have much more in common with their grandparents than their parents. Since they were kids, echo boomers have been strapped into car seats, forced to wear bike helmets and been taken to “play dates” and preschool. They’ve been shuttled from one structured activity to another by image-conscious parents who also expect them to get straight ‘A’s in school. Echo boomers are more serious, and have been warned to stay close to home — or risk being abducted. It’s said that technology defines this generation and, courtesy of the Internet, they are just as likely to have a friend on the other side of the world as they are likely to have a friend on the other side of the road. They have five hundred television channels to watch and have been trained to “please” people and look for approval. Historian Neil Howe reported on a recent 60-Minutes episode about echo boomers that they are more like their grandparents, the great World War II generation – more interested in building things up than tearing them down. “When you ask kids, ‘What do you most hope to achieve?’ where they used to say, ‘I wanna be No. l, I wanna be the best,’ increasingly they’re saying, ‘I wanna be an effective member of the team, I wanna do everything that’s required of me,”’ says Howe. According to the Sixty Minutes report, this “group-think” tendency for echo boomers may be an important key to effectively marketing to them. Traditionally, marketers have used tele- vision to target youth. Competing activi- ties such as video games and surfing the Internet have drawn the echo boomers away from the tube. Marketers are discov- ering that a good old—fashioned direct mail campaign seems to be much more effec- tive in communicating to a younger mar- ket. Ironically, they rarely get snail mail, so it’s seen as a novelty. Smart companies like Toyota have tapped into the echo boomers’ tendency to rely on each other for the latest “buzz” regarding what’s cool. Toyota is quietly promoting its new cars targeted to echo boomers by sponsoring events like street basket- ball/break dance festivals, where they always have cars on hand for viewing and sometimes even to test drive. “People kind of just stumble on our product, and it’s cool that way,” says Jim Farley of Toyota. That’s what the company wants. The echo boomer eating habits are much broader and more eclectic than their parents due to their exposure to different cultures. Canadian echo boomers list Sushi and Japanese as the 7th most popular food establishment visited (Source: Youthography). Many echo boomers are categorized as “flexitaians” meaning that they will shift between vegetarianism and meat consumption as the mood strikes them. Since technology is the base for this group’s culture, they embrace technology-sup- ported channels such as vending, drive—through, debit card payment and online ordering. · It would appear as though the baking industry could do well to target the echo boomers. A generation that values tradition, comfort foods and fine ingredients will probably appreciate high-quality baked goods. lt will be important to offer baked goods “with an international flavor.” A nice offering of organic products would likely appeal to the youth market. Samuel Bonti- Ankomah of McGill University reports that almost all studies concluded that women and the youth are more likely to purchase organic food. Bakeries may also want to consider implementing a sampling program or a “tell a friend” marketing campaign to leverage the echo boomers tendency to network with each other for product information and opinion. We will need to continue to watch the echo boomers to better understand h0w t0 reach them, They’re still developing their habits, so nothing’s carved in stone.

by : Michelle Brisebois

A pipe in your bakery’s bathroom   wall will burst in one hour. Water will race through your office and across the plant floor, soaking everything in its path. The loading bays will overflow.
Pools will form in the basement.
You must act quickly. Apart from the immediate sanitation problem, you’re faced with hazards from damp electrical outlets and wiring. Your machinery could malfunction if water seeps into your computer hardware, it might break down permanently. You could lose valuable operating data. Meanwhile, your paper records become soggy and illegible.
It doesn’t take long for water to knock out a plenty says Jay Dargatz, President of Canstar Restorations in Port Coquitlam,
B.C. People are amazed at the amount of assets that they can lose during a flood.
Like any other food producer, a bakery is vulnerable because it can lose the product that’s on the lines or ready to ship. The cost of those losses can be higher Dargatz specializes in the restoration of water-damaged sites. He notes that while burst pipes can cause serious trouble in minutes, many bad leaks are slow to develop.
Title see lots of dramatic situations,” he says. Tibia pipes get a lot of attention when they break. But a small, slow leak can cause just as much moisture damage over time. A tiny rupture in a pipe can spray hundreds of gallons into a wall cavity and drench the wiring. Before anyone notices it, that rupture can contribute to structural problems. And we have to tear out most of the wall to discover the leakage Wall and ceiling cavities can hide large amounts of stray moisture. Eventually colonies of micro-organisms and insects develop, and your bakery could experience a nasty odour.
Gotten it’s the bad odour that inspires people to take action says Dargatz. Plant   managers don’t worry about something they can’t see, until they smell it. Then we’re called in to solve the problem.
Unfortunately, it can be a lot worse than anyone imagined.”
Bakers have other sources of flooding to consider. While faulty plumbing accounts for many floods, heavy rainfall is also a risk when it contributes to roof leaks.
Insurance adjusters see water damage after somebody leaves a window open during a rainstorm, and enough water pours in to cause a substantial flood. Or the wind pops open an improperly fastened window with the same result. A small oversight can lead to an expensive clean-up.
Another source of water is the sprinkler system, an essential component of your plant’s fire control technology. Sprinklers save lives, but in putting out a blaze they can also drench assets that are not necessarily threatened by the flames. Sometimes a sprinkler head malfunctions, spraying water needlessly into offices and production areas.
Sprinklers are mechanically says Dargatz. Hershey can work well and provide good protection for years. But if they release water owing to worn out parts rather than a fire, plant managers might wonder if their sprinklers were worth the cost. Moisture control vendors are called in to repair sprinkler-related damage several times a month. It’s by no means rare In some communities, river flooding is not only a risk to bakeries, but also life threatening. Large rivers flow through Winnipeg and Vancouver, and the spring run-off puts emergency responders on high alert. Floodplain maps demonstrate that many bakeries could be flooded at some point in future, and that they could remain submerged for several days.
“If you construct your plant on a flood- plain, you might pay less for the land” says Dargatz. |”Eventually, however, you might have to deal with a river that over- flows its balks and puts your plant under water. That’s a fact of life, and there’s not much you can do about it aside from finding another site. Plants on river banks take their chances.”
While you can’t eradicate the risk of water damage in your bakery, at least you can lower the chances. Start with a moisture-sensitive preventative maintenance program. If you see discoloured stains on ceiling tiles or wails, investigate further.
You might uncover a slow leak that you can repair promptly and spare yourself costly reconstruction. Wall stains are often the first obvious sign of a leak. Any damp odour is also a clue. You’re already familiar with the smell of mildew’, odour build- up owing to moisture in wall cavities can be equally pungent.
Don’t hesitate to call for professional assistance in identifying and remedying moisture problems. Bakeries have received moisture warnings from pest control Offi- cers, plumbers, carpenters, and engineers.
Sanitation crews frequently discover leaks and water damage before anyone else.
Still, common sense is important there’s an important role for common sense. Some bakeries assign a maintenance worker to inspect roofs after every rain- storm or snowfall. “Pooling” on a flat roof indicates inadequate drainage. The extra weight could cause cracks through which water will flow. The older the roof, the greater the chances of cracking.
Regular and frequent inspections of sprinkler heads, washrooms, and drains are also wise.
“If you make your employees aware of the risk, they’ll be more likely to spot the problem and report it” says Dargatz. “Let them know that no wall stain is too small to be reported. And ask them to tell the plant manager about any pool of water that appears suddenly in an unusual place, such as a basement storage area that has been dry for years. You’ll find that
Occupational Health and Safety
Committees can be very helpful in getting the word out. They want to avoid Slip-and- fall injuries, which are commonly caused by moisture For larger floods, you can establish a strategic alliance with a moisture control vendor in your area. This alliance involves making arrangements for a fast response to your call for moisture control. lf a strategic alliance is effectively organized and updated, the vendor will arrive quickly at your bakery with the right equipment to prevent further damage.
“We’d like to know the layout of the (ant before we arrive says Dargatz.
plant “we’d also need an idea of the bakery machinery that might be damaged – conveyors, packaging modules, and ovens.
Where are they, and how many are on site? The more we know about a plant, the faster we’ll be able to get that plant back in business You can’t eradicate the risk of water damage in your bakery, but you can take steps to mitigate it.

Guy Robertson is a disaster planning consultant

<!– /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:”"; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-fareast-font-family:”Times New Roman”;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} –>

The popularity of ROGERS natural foods is a reflection of the North American trend to better eating habits. More and more health professionals are stressing the importance of increased use of natural products, more fiber, less chemicals in family diets. The Company prides itself on its many natural, whole grain flour and cereal products produced without the use of food additives.

Rogers Foods Ltd. produces and sells a variety of high quality “branded” and “private label” flour and cereal products for the grocery/retail, bakery/food, export and feed markets. Consumer  products are distributed from the Rogers Foods plant throughout Western Canada and into Ontario. Industrial size bagged and bulk flour products are distributed throughout British Columbia and Alberta.

The Company is ideally located in that it can obtain grain from both British Columbia and Alberta farmers, as well as serve its two major market areas of British Columbia and Alberta. While 85% of Rogers Foods Ltd. business is still domestic, the continued growth of export sales to eight Pacific Rim countries ensures stability of our sales of natural, nutritious, high-quality flour, cereal products and value-added products.