Hygienic Equipment Design Is Essential To Food Safety

By Isaac Fletcher, contributing writer, Food Online

In order to enhance food safety, there are numerous factors within a food production operation that need to be carefully examined. However, one of the most important areas to start is with the hygienic design of food processing and packaging equipment.

Food and beverage manufacturers are under constant pressure to enhance food safety throughout the supply chain. As consumer awareness regarding product contamination continues to rise, the food industry has been driven to seek out more hygienic solutions and manufacturing practices to lower the risk of contamination and other food safety issues.

Related: Sanitary Mixer Design — Factors To Improve Productivity And Lower Costs

Enhancing food safety begins with processing and packaging equipment. Manufacturers need to ensure that all equipment used in manufacturing adequately accommodates various hygienic needs, such as ease of cleaning and cross-contamination prevention. Appropriate design for equipment, such as vertical baggers and horizontal flow wrappers, can greatly reduce the possibility of cross-contamination occurring between product batches.

Different regions tend to have their own food safety regulatory agencies, such as the FDA and British Retail Consortium (BRC), but there is no comprehensive global legislative or regulatory standard for hygienic design. Despite this, there is a clear trend toward enhanced regulation, which corroborates the growing concerns regarding the global food supply. In the absence of global standards, manufacturers often need to make important considerations for the hygienic design of their equipment in order to meet food safety needs.

Hygienic Design
In order to enhance food safety, manufacturers should consider the following when selecting the equipment that will be used in production:

• Ensure there are no crevices that could potentially promote cross-contamination. Equipment that has recesses, gaps, and other difficult-to-reach areas is hard to clean and can invite food residue that may not be easily spotted. A more open design reduces the risk of cross-contamination.
• Eliminate unnecessary components that create clutter. Similar to the previous point, the more surfaces that exist, the more areas there are upon which contaminants can accumulate. By reducing the number and length of cables and establishing a clean routing plan, manufacturers can eliminate some of these problematic areas.
• Minimize the amount of flat surfaces. Since particles and residue can easily settle on flat surfaces, large flat-to-flat contact surfaces and horizontal surfaces should be avoided as much as possible.
• Equipment should be simple to clean. Ease of cleaning is a critical element of any equipment design. Components that are easier to access are easier to clean, meaning less time will be spent on thoroughly cleaning the equipment and more time will be spent on production. In a perfect scenario, the equipment should be able to be cleaned without removing any components, but if removal is necessary, it should require no tools to do so.
• Consider construction materials. The equipment needs to be able to withstand regular exposure to harsh cleaning agents, high-pressure washdowns, and extreme temperatures. Manufacturers should make sure the equipment’s material will adequately suit their production operation’s needs.

With increased consumer concern over food safety, manufacturers need to take a close look at equipment design. Hygienically-designed processing and packaging equipment is a one of the most effective ways to avoid costly safety-related issues. A single product recall can be enough reason for a consumer to switch to a competitor’s product. Although the initial investment for new equipment or equipment redesign can be costly, it is far less harmful to your company’s bottom line than the food safety issues that can result from faulty design.