Securing the future of the food and drink industry with biometrics

Biometric technology becoming a necessity

The food and drink industry has an ever-changing nature that encompasses the production, retail, and service of almost an endless number of food and drink products and services.

Because of the essentiality of the industry to consumers, it is increasingly at risk of security breaches and potential ‘food terrorism’. This means that the demand for high-level, reliable security in the industry is also increasing, making biometric technology not just a ‘nice to have’ for businesses, but a necessary investment.

Why biometrics?

Biometrics work to provide accountable, physical authentication for employees in the food and drink industry, which is especially important for both security and hygiene reasons.

They work by identifying the unique characteristics of an individual. For example, a fingerprint reader will measure a fingerprint against a stored biometric template of this fingerprint and determine whether this individual should be granted access based on their individual, pre-programmed (assigned) permissions.

It’s obvious within many industries why biometric technology is implemented, particularly within businesses that handle highly sensitive data or high-value assets. But it can be less clear why something as ‘everyday’ as the food and drink sector needs such high-security technology.

Here are 6 advantages of implementing biometric technology within the food and beverage sector:

  Combat food terrorism

​Food terrorism is becoming more common and the contamination of food can be catastrophic for a business, especially when dealing with several suppliers and a team (or teams) of employees. Utilizing Genetec Security Center with ievo biometric authentication can prevent unauthorized individuals or those without the correct clearances from entering the premises, therefore eradicating such crime from the outside and minimizing internal risks.

Should the unfortunate incident of someone in-house causing malicious contamination occur, you will also be able to log who was present at the time and take the appropriate action without the need for a lengthy and more costly investigation.

  Reduce contamination risks 

Biometric readers can also ensure that any risk of accidental cross-contamination is minimized. This can be made possible by allocating differing permission levels to different staff members within the Security Center profile management. For example, staff working in one production line can be restricted from entering an area for a completely separate production line.

  Track attendance 

This technology can provide information on when an individual logged-in to the premises and when they logged out, enabling you to track the working hours of employees more effectively. This is especially useful when employing staff that work on zero-hours contracts or that are paid differently for overtime hours.

The ability to easily cancel, downgrade or upgrade access permissions, or restrict access during non-contracted hours also minimizes the risk of a security breach and also makes security admin changes within Security Center when promoting or dismissing staff extremely easy to implement.

  Improve workforce management 

Biometrics along with a sophisticated access control system can help staff adhere to particular rules, such as the risks that come with the sharing of key cards or passwords and unpermitted entries to certain areas of the premises. It can also eradicate the nuisance, ongoing expense, and risk of lost key cards.

  Manage remotely

In many cases in the food and drink industry, factories are located in several locations. Biometric technology can allow you to keep track of all employees in various areas, monitoring access levels and permissions remotely.

  Seamlessly integrate with other technologies 

Utilizing Genetec Security Center allows not only the use of ievo biometrically lead access control, but integration of additional security solutions like intrusion panel, perimeter detection, video management systems all in one complete, robust package.

A complete solution

At ievo, we work with Genetec to provide enhanced biometric security systems. Our biometric readers seamlessly integrate with the latest Genetec technologies to create a world-class, highly reliable security solution.

Read more about how biometric security works within the food and drink sector on the ievo website.