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Hygienic design of equipment for open processing
The risk of contamination of food products during open processing with relevant microorganisms
increases with the opportunity to grow in poorly designed equipment as well as with their
concentration in the environment. This means that, supplementary to requirements for hygienically
designed equipment, the environmental conditions are an important factor. In addition, the type
and level of product contamination and the stage of the manufacturing process must be taken into
consideration. Open processes include very different types of equipment, e.g. machines for dairy
products, alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, ice-cream products, sweet-oil, nutrient fat, coffee
products, sugar, cereals, vegetables, fruits, bakery products, meat, and fish.
In relation to the stage of processing and manufacturing different levels of hygienic requirements
can be demanded when handling raw products, for example, which have to be heat treated in
comparison to microbial unstable ready-made products and consumer goods. In principle, the
design of equipment and the environmental conditions must not allow any increase in
concentration of relevant microorganisms.
The subgroup Design Principles of the European Hygienic Equipment Design Group (EHEDG)
produced in previous papers guidelines on “Hygienic Design Principles” (1), “Hygienic Welding”
(3), and “Hygienic Design of Equipment for Closed Processing” (2). The guidelines have been
approved by EHEDG.
Scope
The current paper deals with principal hygienic requirements for equipment used in open processing.
It describes methods of construction and fabrication giving examples of how the principal
design criteria can be met in open process equipment. For machines for special products and
special manufacturing processes more stringent requirements may be necessary which have to be
defined specifically. If requirements can not be met, cleanability must be demonstrated by tests.
Environmental conditions are not taken into consideration in this paper. Requirements on this
subject which can also be applied to open processes have been published.
Food contact equipment
Food contact areas include all surfaces that are directly exposed to the product and al1 indirect
surfaces from which splashed product, condensate, liquid or dust may drain, drop or be drawn into
the product. This means that for hygienic design of product contact areas of equipment for open
processing the area above the open product surface must also be taken into consideration.
Materials
Many countries have directives for materials in contact with foodstuffs. It should be ensured that
the use of specific materials is in accordance with legislation.
Al1 materials must be non toxic, mechanically stable, inert and resistant to the product and to al1
cleaning and antimicrobial agents at the full range of concentrations, operating pressures and
temperatures. The control of Wear must be prescribed.
Stainless steel is frequently the logical choice for metallic applications and, in consequence, the
mostly used material in the food industry. The correct selection and application of speciîic types
mainly depends on the corrosive properties of products, disinfecting and cleaning agents (above
all, chloride containing fluids can lead to pitting corrosion or stress corrosion cracking) as well as
on welding requirements. Adequate AISI, DIN and AC1 types for cast products should be used.
Specific recommended types are published2.
Aluminium is not sufficiently corrosion resistant and should generally be avoided for food contact.
If nickel or chromium plated equipment is used the plating must be manufactured reliably and its
integrity checked. It must be ascertained that under conditions of use the plating cannot flake or
otherwise contaminate the product. Chemically plated materials should be preferred over
electroplating because of higher durability and more compact and dense surface layers. In
addition, applications of plated materials must be chosen referring to their corrosion resistance in
relation to the properties of products and cleaning and disinfecting agents.
Plastic materials are used to protect tools and implements from metal to metal contact (e.g. for
shear edges of cutters), as guides and covers, or for hoses because of their plasticity and corrosion
resistance2. It must be noted that some plastics are porous and can absorb product constituents and
harbour microorganisms. Special attention must be paid to this effect by careful cleaning and
periodical inspection.
Rubber materials and other elastomers are commonly used for gaskets, seals, scrapers, etc.
Excessive mechanical or thermal compression or deformation causes damage to such components
adversely affecting cleanability z.
Wood is appropriate only in a limited number of cases, for example when it plays a favourable
role for relative humidity regulation andor microbiological ecology (e.g. cheese ripening, the
production of wine, vinegar, etc.) or when its mechanical properties cannot be obtained with other
available materials (e.g. butcher’s blocks). Wooden surfaces must be cleaned effectively and
disinfected because they can retain microorganisms which can subsequently grow in the presence
of product nutrients. Splinters can result in foreign body contamination.
Surfaces
Al1 surfaces in contact with foodstuffs must be easily cleanable. Therefore, surfaces must be
smooth, continuous and free from cracks, crevices, scratches and pits which can harbour and retain
soil andor microorganisms after cleaning. The recommended surface finish of stainless steel
should be equal to or less than Ra = 0.8 pm . It should be rnaintained during the usable life of the
equipment.
It is preferred to use permanent joints against disrnountable ones to reduce hygienic risks by
projections, protrusions, edges, recesses, metal to metal contact and crevices of sealing gaskets.
Permanent joints of equipment should preferably be welded. There are several types of common
defects arising in welded joints (eg misalignment, cracking, porosity, inclusions) which can act as
a source of microbiological problems. Principal requirements on the welding process and on
welding seams are published3.
The product contact surface of welds must be smooth (ground flush with the surrounding surface).
To avoid crevices, by metal to metal contact, the welded seams must not be intermittent but
continuous. Overlapped welded joints should not be used by reason of retaining soil and forming
areas at the overlap edge which are difficult to clean. If overlapping is unavoidable reliable
draining and cleaning conditions of shadow areas must be taken into consideration. The welded
seams should be ground flush and smooth. In the case of thick sheets the edge of the upper plate
must be sloped. If necessary they must be ground as shown in Fig. 1.
Fig. I: Welded joints. (a) Overlapped sheets with intermittently welded seams create crevices and metal to metal
contact areas between the seams; (6) improved design of overlapped sheets must have continuous welds and sloped
edges for easy cleaning; (c) correct design is characterized by smooth continuously welded sheets.
Welding in sharp corners of equipment must be avoided (Fig. 2). Radiussed corners and welding
searns in the plain area are recommended for hygienic design.
Fig. 2: Welded joints in corners. (a), (b) Weided seams in corners create un-cleanable areas; (c) radiussed corners
and correetly welded seams in the plain area avoid any hygiene risk.
If adhesives are used for permanent joints they must be compatible with materials, products and
cleaning/disinfecting agents with which they are in contact. Al1 bonds shall be continuous and
mechanically sound so that the adhesives do not separate from the base materials to which they are
bonded.
Dismountable joints (e.g. of plates or appendages) fixed by fasteners (e.g. screws or bolts) must
only be used if dismantling is unavoidable. Ends of metal to metal contact surfaces of the
overlapped edges must be carefully sealed considering defined compression of the seals. This
cannot be achieved by threads of screws because of tolerances (Fig. 3a) but by bolts or pins (Fig.
3b). The design of grooves for seals has to consider space for expansion to avoid extension of
seals into the product area during heating (Fig. 3c).
There shall be no exposed screw threads on product contact surfaces (Fig. 3a). Appropriate hygienic
design uses screw joints at the reverse side to product (Fig. 3b). It can be optimised by flangelike
screw connections effecting the seal compression directly (Fig. 36). If a connection or fastening
must be made with screws in the product area, poor design of screws and nuts creating crevices,
grooves, or dead areas must be avoided (Fig. 4). Hygienic design of equipment with enclosed
threads requires screw heads or nuts appropriate to mechanical or in-place cleaning. Metal to metal
contact must be avoided by the use of metal-backed elastomer gaskets (Fig 5).
Fig. 3: Disrnountable joints. (a) From overlapped screw joints hazards arise from crevices between the sheet edges,
poorly designed exposed nuts or screw heads and un-sealed threads; (b) appropriate design uses sealed edges of
overlapped sheets, controlled seal compression (by pins or bolts) and screwjoints on the reverse side to the product;
(c) for optimum design flanged sheets with sealed edges and screw joints on the reverse side to the product can be
applied.
Fig. 4: Hazards due to unhygienic design of screws exposed to product are caused by metal to metal contact (a),
crevices and gaps (b) or dead spaces (c).
Fig. 5: Hygienic design of screw joints. (a) The exposed domed head is easily cleanable and the metal backed gasket
is used to seal the thread; (b) ifapplicable, any risk can be avoided by using a stud welded on the non product side.
Drainability. Food containing equipment (tanks, containers, vessels, troughs, reservoirs, hoppers, bins, chutes)
with discharge openings must be fully self drainable as demonstrated by examples of Fig. 6c - 6f.
Fig. 6: Drainability of equipment principles. (a) and (b) Discharge outlets above the lowest level of equipment prevent
selfdraining; (c), (d), (e), and (a demonstrate self drainable design with discharge outlets at the lowest level, sloped
bottoms, and well rounded corners.
For good drainability and cleanability sharp corners must be avoided. They must be properly
radiussed (see also 3). Horizontal surfaces must have a slope of more than 3" towards the outlet
(Fig. 7). Equipment which can be tipped for discharging must also have well rounded corners, be
fully drainable, and easily cleanable (Fig. 8).
Fig. 7: Drainability of corners and walls. (a) Sharp corners and horizontal walls can not easily be cleaned or
drained; (b) to avoid any hazards corners must be well radiussed and horizontal surfaces must be sloped.
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