Hygienic design: simply a must

IT GOES without saying that food safety is hinged on several components, with hygiene being one of these. But from one manufacturer to the other, it will be noted that the perception of hygiene can be widely different, so much so that when evaluated, their hygienic methods either meet or fail the industry standards.

Hygiene begins with the personal cleanliness of employees and their protective clothing, gloves and equipment, as well as the clear separation of personnel and production areas. At the recently held meat event IFFA in Frankfurt, suppliers displayed a spectrum of hygiene equipment including disinfectant basins, hand wash basins for contact-free washing and disinfecting, sole and boot cleaning machines, knife sterilisation basins, soap dispensers, waste-paper baskets and towel dispensers.

Aside from personal cleanliness, machinery and equipment are expected to be virtually spotless to avoid bacterial contamination. Parts of machines, conveyers and other plant components that come into contact with products must be cleaned of any product residuals sticking to them and disinfected at regular intervals. In many companies, most of this work is still done manually. It is a time-consuming and expensive procedure, and one that is not always entirely reliable.

Taking the CIP, SIP route

A better option, which is gaining ground amongst producers, are the automatic CIP (Cleaning-in-Place) and SIP (Sterilisation-in-Place) systems. In common with many other fields, the trend is towards robot-based processes. However, with or without robots, the automatic cleaning systems can be adjusted to meet individual requirements and thus achieve optimum and, above all, reproducible results. In this connection, extremely precise automatic dosing systems guarantee a more efficient use of cleaning agents, which in turn helps reduce the burden on the environment, conserve resources and cut costs on the procurement and waste-disposal sides.

 
The simpler the better

The cleanliness and ease with which meat-processing machines and plants can be tidied up is also a question of design. Thus, simplicity is the key principle of hygienic design (HD). The aim of the simple design is to avoid any undercuts and open seams, upon which product residuals can catch and form ideal breeding grounds for microorganisms.

For the same reason, open screw holes, Allen or Torx screws, and the like are not permitted. Corners and transitions must be smooth, free of joints and cleanly rounded off. The  surfaces  of  covers  or  sensor housings in spraying or wet areas should be inclined at an angle of at least three degrees to avoid any traces of water remaining on them. Steeper gradients ensure a faster run-off and should, therefore, be used whenever possible. Additionally, it should be possible to clean all parts that come into contact with the product without having to remove them from the CIP or SIP systems.

Investments pay off

Food processing and packing lines not based on hygienic-design principles have no future in the market because the risks and costs in terms of potential production losses, recall campaigns, recourse claims and image loss are too great. Therefore, to invest in HD represents excellent insurance and is worthwhile in terms of both production and economic efficiency. Hygienically designed machines and plants offer none or significantly fewer opportunities for product residuals or contamination to take hold. Fewer deposits mean less cleaningNike Air VaporMax