Page 37 - Food&Drink Magazine October 2021

DEAD ENDS & HOLLOWS
Of course, roughness of a surface is only one aspect
of how easy it is to clean
the equipment effectively. Things like access to all parts of the equipment is important and where access is not entirely possible, the ability for the equipment
to be easily disassembled (without specialised tools) becomes critical.
Further, there are design flaws that can make effective cleaning difficult or even impossible. Dead ends, hollows, poor quality welds and crevices are criteria to avoid completely as they can harbour food residue and microbial growth. They can also provide a platform for the development of biofilms, further complicating sanitation efforts.
Internal corners should not be sharp and should have a minimum smoothly curving radius of 5mm. As a rule of thumb, any gap, crevice, or depression not wider than 20mm cannot be easily cleaned. Where seals are used, these must be correctly sized to be flush with the adjoining surface, not too large forming a ridge or being recessed, thus forming a valley.
THE NUTS & BOLTS
Beware of equipment that features threaded fixtures like bolts and screws. Apart from potentially working loose and becoming contaminants, these fixtures are difficult to clean. Ideally, they should be absent from any food contact or splash zone. Round or dome head bolts onto compressible seals are
best followed by external hex or square drive. If an internal head drive is absolutely necessary, then a fully slotted drive is the next best option. Internal drives such as Posidrives, hex drives, Torx or Phillips should be avoided at all costs in locations where cleaning is required.
In terms of more general considerations, there are several factors that warrant assessment. Consider parts of machinery that can fall out, wear or otherwise accidentally enter the product stream. If such risks exist, they can be mitigated if the potential contaminant is magnetic, metal detectable, or X-ray visible.
All equipment that is not able to be disassembled for cleaning needs to be self-draining such that small pools of wash water are not able to collect within the pipework or equipment.
RUNNING HOT OR COLD
Pay attention also to what happens with the equipment in use and when subjected to higher temperatures or lower than normal temperatures. At temperature extremes that can occur through washing or other uses, the materials may behave differently, and risks may increase. An example of this are conveyor belts situated at the end of a freezing tunnel where normal operating temperatures may well fall below zero leading to brittleness and breakages in some belting compounds.
And finally, consequence of error needs to be evaluated. What happens when the unexpected or an error occurs? Is the equipment failsafe?
This is a really important part of hygienic design criteria which often is passed over in an assessment.
FAIL & THEN RISE
All of the above elements are reviewed when HACCP International conducts a certification assessment on a piece of equipment intended for use in the food industry. I can assure you, that many items submitted on the first occasion fail to meet our strict assessment criteria in terms of hygienic design.
Finally,onecantakethe principles of hygienic design on an individual piece of equipment and apply those same principles in the macro environment to the entire plant... Once you achieve that, you are really on the way to having a food facility that is fully compliant with the principles of hygienic design. ✷
MAIN: Holistic hygiene design is a melting pot of factors.
ABOVE: Cleaning can also create issues if materials are affected by extreme temperatures.
HYGIENE & SAFETY
✷ ABOUTTHEAUTHOR
Martin Stone is a
director of HACCP
International, a leading
Product Certification
Body specialising in food
safety risk management applied to the food and related industries. He has been associated with the food and food science sectors for 40 years.
HEALTH AND SAFETY FLOORING
SLIP RESISTANT • ULTRA CLEAN • IMPERVIOUS
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1800 769 738 www.roxset.com.au
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www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au | October 2021 | Food&Drink business | 37