A SYSTEMATIC APPROACH TO HYGIENE IN FOOD PROCESSING ENVIRONMENTS |
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The food processing environment should be free from unacceptable levels of #microbial contaminants. Some bacteria can multiply rapidly and they can double their population in 20 minutes, if not stopped.
Application and monitoring of good hygiene, cleaning, and disinfection practices in food processing environments are required right from the entry of raw materials to the handling of finished products. Focus is needed by the food processor to maintain hygiene environments to minimize the risks of contamination.
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Here, attention is to be given to the areas of #contamination, which occur by chemicals, physical, and microbial. Chemical contamination: due to lubricants, or cleaning agents from equipment.
Physical contamination: due to foreign objects such as staples, pins, pieces of glassware, etc.
Microbial contamination: due to microorganisms that deteriorate food prematurely.
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Identifying the key places for a sampling of the environment where microorganisms accumulate is needed in the food processing plants. To do this, regular screening of working, equipment, walls, floors, ceilings, utensils, sinks, drains, and of the air is to be exercised. And the taken samplings are to be tested to determine the overall colony count of microorganisms which decides the cleanliness of the environment tested. Though it involves a commitment of time and resources, the potential cost of not doing this is far greater. |
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About the lab results: After getting the lab results, the entry and transmission of pathogens into the food processing environment is to be prevented. This can be attained by disconnecting or isolating the direct access points between raw material, receiving area, and associated personnel from the processing and packaging areas.
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Maintaining antimicrobial surfaces is a critical activity in food processing to minimize microbial survival and growth. A system-based #hygienic practices and protocols are to be implemented such as effective cleaning and sanitization, work flow optimization, environmental controls, and the integration of antimicrobial technologies. |
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Food safety risks & the role of cleaning:
Organic matter presented on food is the source of food-borne illnesses. To remove pathogens and other organic material, microbiological cleaning with sanitization is required. Moreover, a correct type of cleaning agent is required to effectively remove different types of soiling.
Mostly three types of #surfactants are used for cleaning food products.
- 1. Non-ionic surfactants (detergents and emulsifiers) clean oily soil.
- 2. Anionic surfactants (soaps and detergents) lift and remove the suspended soils.
- 3. A combination of the above two to achieve the quality cleaning.
These cleaners along with #sanitizers efficiently remove allergens and microorganisms from food surfaces to a degree of 99.9% in the shortest time such as in 30 minutes. Sanitizers destroy pathogen-populations on food surfaces thereby maintaining the quality of food intact. On the other hand, to minimize the air-borne food contamination,
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A food processing plant should take care of:
- Proper natural and mechanical ventilation
- Controlling ambient temperatures, odors, and humidity
- Considering structural factors which contributes to contamination
- Providing heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems to prevent contaminated air flowing to clean area.
- Facilitating proper sanitation and rest rooms for the workers.
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Antimicrobial Technology::
Antibacterial and antifungal treatments for food conveyors are to be practiced. Moreover, incorporated antimicrobial-cleaning supports clean surfaces between visual cleanings.
Antimicrobial-protected surfaces counter the survival of the microbes on them. So such surfaces are better than unprotected surfaces for safe and hygienic handling of food in food processing plants. By doing this most of the outbreaks of food-borne diseases can be controlled. So all food manufacturing units should therefore strictly adhere to the area-specific regulatory guidelines laid down by the concerned authorities.
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One more thing is that contamination is often sporadic rather than spread evenly through-out a batch. If contamination is detected in any batch, production is to be stopped and a full-scale inspection is required. The affected batches may have to be destroyed fully. To save the company’s reputation, recalling of such food-batches from market is required.
To avoid all such damages to the company, every food processor has to demonstrate due attention towards safe and hygiene practices. For this purpose, they also need to avail a valuable monitoring of environment in the plant. The effective environmental monitoring can improve quality and production efficiency.
SS Engineers manufactures all the Post Harvest Machineries like Sorting, Grading, Cleaning, Packing and Cooling Equipment Machineries. For more information Register.
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