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WHITE PAPER The importance of using cleaning equipment of good hygienic design has been recognised for some time now by two of the largest Global Food Safely Initiative (GFSI) benchmarked schemes, i.e., BRCGS and FSSC 22000. BRGCS: Sections 4.11.6 & 8.5.3 ‘Cleaning equipment (including that used for cleaning in high-care and high-risk areas) shall be:- hygienically designed & fit for purpose,.’ [2] FSSC 22000: ISO/TS 22002-1:2009, Part 1. Section11.2 Cleaning and sanitizing agents and tools - ‘Tools & equipment shall be of hygienic design .’ [3] This paper provides a summary of information, with regard to hygienic equipment design criteria, and illustrates, thorough the use of examples, good and bad hygienic design of food industry brushware. HYGIENIC DESIGN CRITERIA: European Hygienic Engineering Design Group (EHEDG) hygienic equipment design criteria Founded in 1989, the EHEDG is a consortium of equipment manufacturers, food industries, research institutes and public health authorities that aims to promote hygiene during the processing and packing of food products. The principal goal of EHEDG is the promotion of safe food by improving hygienic engineering and design in all aspects of food manufacture. For more information please visit URL:http://www.ehedg.org. EHEDG actively supports European legislation, which requires that handling, preparation processing, and packaging of food is done hygienically using hygienic machinery, in hygienic premises (EC Directive 2006/42/EC for Machinery [4] , EN 1672-2 [5] and EN ISO 14159 [6] Hygiene requirement). EHEDG Guideline Document 8 ‘Hygienic Equipment Design Criteria’ [7] , and Document 32 ‘Materials of construction for equipment in contact with food’ [8] provide some hygienic equipment design criteria, i.e. equipment should be/have, • free of crevices and contamination traps e.g. use of smooth welds, absence of small holes, recesses, and sharp internal angles • a smooth surface finish (Ra < 0.8μm) • easy to clean (and dry) e.g. quick and easy to dismantle/re-assemble, or of one piece construction, or with easy access to all areas for cleaning and disinfection • made of food safe materials e.g. no wood or glass, non-toxic • well constructed e.g. durable, no foamed materials, not painted or coated • non-absorbent • appropriately temperature and chemical resistant. The EHEDG logo. 3-A Sanitary Standards, Inc. (3-A SSI) The 3-A Sanitary Standards organisation is the more senior American equivalent to EHEDG, with the first 3-A Sanitary Standards for the advancement of food sanitation and hygiene being developed in the late 1920s. 3-A Sanitary Standards, Inc. (3-A SSI) was incorporated into the organisation in late 2002. The five Founding Members include the American Dairy Products Institute (ADPI), the International Association of Food Industry Suppliers (*IAFIS) the International Association for Food Protection (IAFP), the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA), and the 3-A Sanitary Standards Symbol Vikan A/S - Department of Research & Development © Vikan A/S. Published, 2015. Revised, 2023 02
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WHITE PAPER Administrative Council. Additionally, leadership of 3-A SSI includes the Food & Drug Administration (FDA), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the 3-A Steering Committee. *IAFIS is now the Food Processing Suppliers Association. For more information please visit URL:http://www.3-a.org/. This non-profit organisation encourages the development of voluntary standards and accepted practices with regard to hygiene within food manufacturing. It also oversees the 3-A Symbol, used to identify equipment manufactured to 3-A Sanitary Standards, as part of its Third Party Verification (TPV) program. The mission of 3-A SSI is to enhance product safety for consumers of food, beverages, and pharmaceutical products through the development and use of 3-A Sanitary Standards and 3-A Accepted Practices. The criteria used by 3-A for hygienic design are similar to those stated by EHEDG. The Symbol of Assurance The 3A logo. The European Brushware Federation (FEIBP) Charter In 1995 the FEIBP established a Professional Hygiene Brush (PHB) Working Group to formulate an FEIBP Charter defining criterias for Professional Hygiene Brushware (PHB). All brushware bearing the FEIBP PHB logo (Figure 1), which is officially registered as an EU collective trademark under no. 010919132, are manufactured to the criteria set out in the FEIBP Charter [9] (see Appendix 1 for the relevant parts of the Charter with regard to this study). Figure 1. The FEIBP PBH charter logo. HYGIENIC DESIGN ASSESSMENT OF FOOD INDUSTRY BRUSHWARE: There are currently four established manufacturing processes for brushware commonly used by the food industry - Drilled and stapled; resin set; drilled and stapled resin set; and fused bristle. In 2015 Vikan introduced a fifth option, it’s Ultra Safe Technology (UST) brushware. Vikan has investigated these five brushware options, with regard to hygienic design, using microscopy and Ultra Violet (UV) sensitive lotion (as a contaminant). The samples were also assessed against established hygienic equipment design criteria. Methods Drilled and stapled, drilled and stapled resin set, and UST samples were investigated using a Leica M80 stereo-microscope and a Zeiss Evo 60 scanning electron microscope (courtesy of Campden BRI; Gloucestershire, UK). Additionally, drilled and stapled, resin set, and fused brushware samples were smeared with UV reactive lotion. Figures 2a shows a drilled and stapled brush ‘contaminated’ with UV lotion. Figure 2b shows the same ‘contaminated’ brush as seen under UV light. Figure 2a. ‘Contaminated’ brush. Vikan A/S - Department of Research & Development © Vikan A/S. Published, 2015. Revised, 2023 03
