FDA, FDMA, and beyond — how ready is your brewery for inspection?

For quality leaders and compliance owners, the question lands like a gut check. U.S. and international rules keep evolving, documentation requirements only get stricter, and the stress of “are we audit-ready today?” can feel constant. The good news: automated, real-time pasteurization monitoring doesn’t just simplify the job — it de-risks it.

What regulators actually expect (U.S. and global)

In the U.S., breweries are covered by the FDA’s Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Preventive Controls for Human Food, which requires a written food safety plan, validated controls, monitoring, corrective actions, and complete records. Current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMPs) under 21 CFR Part 117 form the baseline. But Preventive Controls — also called HARPC — are where auditors say “show your math.” Breweries must prove their pasteurization process works batch after batch, with evidence of how deviations are detected and corrected.

Globally, many markets align to Codex Alimentarius’ General Principles of Food Hygiene and HACCP. Whether you’re exporting or simply aiming for best-in-class practice, Codex’s structure (GHP prerequisites plus HACCP) is the lingua franca inspectors use worldwide. And inside the industry, the Brewers Association’s food-safety toolkits echo the same expectations: risk-based controls, Pasteurization Units (PU) verified at the cold spot, and records robust enough to withstand an audit.

The bottom line: if you can prove time–temperature integration and PU delivery with traceable, audit-ready records, you’re not just compliant — you’re confident.

Why manual pasteurization creates compliance anxiety

Clipboards, sporadic measurements, chart recorders, and water-bath calibrations invite variability. Even with highly skilled operators, these legacy approaches create gaps in the two things inspectors care about most: continuous monitoring and complete, contemporaneous records.

If a deviation occurs, breweries must show evidence of detection, correction, and verification — with precise timestamps. Manual methods make that a scramble. Automated, real-time systems make it routine. That difference often decides whether an inspection feels like a crisis or just another day at the brewery.

Meet Extant Dynamix: precision born from elite aerospace

Extant Dynamix is a veteran-owned company whose commercial applications draw from its founder’s roots in elite aerospace — NASA engineering rigor combined with TOPGUN fighter-pilot precision. That mission-critical ethos lives inside its flagship innovation: SCOUT + COMMANDER, the premier automated solution for zero-error PU consistency.

What it is

A comprehensive, real-time pasteurization monitoring platform that captures internal temperatures (at the cold spot), auto-calculates PUs with decimal-level precision, and generates audit-ready records without operator friction.

How it helps compliance teams sleep at night

• Automated, real-time monitoring — Continuous in-process visibility replaces sporadic checks.
• Self-calibrating probes (NIST-traceable) — Eliminates water-bath hassles and reduces downtime exposure.
• Rugged, wireless hardware — Built for high heat, humidity, and vibration; wireless charging ensures nonstop availability.
• Secure, time-stamped data — Digital batch dossiers ready for instant retrieval during audits.
• Seamless QA integration — Pushes data to existing systems; enables role-based access and cloud review.

A quick compliance checklist (and how SCOUT + COMMANDER covers it)

• Written hazard analysis & preventive controls (FSMA / HACCP).
• SCOUT + COMMANDER validates PU delivery with parameter limits, monitoring frequencies, and verification logic embedded in your SOPs.

• Continuous monitoring of critical limits.
• Provides real-time internal temperature and PU curves, cold-spot coverage, and automatic alerts on deviation.

• Corrective actions & documentation.
• On-screen prompts, event logs, operator notes, and linked retest/hold-release records.

• Verification & calibration records.
• Self-calibrating probe logs plus periodic verification trails — exportable for auditors.

• Record retention & traceability.
• Secure, time-stamped, batch-linked data with fast retrieval by lot, date, line, or SKU.

• cGMP adherence across operations.
• Standardized workflows reduce human-factor variability and support cGMP discipline.

• Global market alignment (Codex/HACCP).
• Hazard-based monitoring and documentation mapped directly to Codex principles for international readiness.

The day-to-day benefits your team will feel

• Zero-error PU consistency — Decimals matter; so do brand reputation and shelf stability.
• Fewer missed PU goals — Predictive alerts prevent over- or under-pasteurization before quality is at risk.
• Audit-ready by default — No scramble for records; the dossier builds itself automatically.
• Faster onboarding — Intuitive dashboards and plug-and-play deployment, not a six-month training saga.
• More time for high-value work — QA and operations staff shift from firefighting to optimizing.

These aren’t abstract promises. They’re the day-to-day realities breweries experience when they replace legacy manual monitoring with modern, automated precision.

From audit stress to confident compliance

Inspections are expanding — FDA, FDMA, export buyers, private-label customers, and major retailers all expect airtight documentation. What used to feel like a looming threat can instead become a non-event when the right systems are in place. SCOUT + COMMANDER delivers the precision that matters most and the records that prove it.

When regulators, partners, or auditors walk in, breweries equipped with SCOUT + COMMANDER can present complete, accurate data in seconds. No scrambling through binders. No chasing down operators for missing notes. Just evidence-backed confidence.

If you’d like to see how . SCOUT + COMMANDER can simplify compliance, ensure zero-error PU delivery, and de-stress audits, reach out today for a free demo.

We look forward to partnering with you!