Looking back

2005 was a busy year for EHEDG with much achieved and many developments made. Dr Matilda Freund, EHEDG President and Director Global Microbiology and Food Safety, Kraft Foods, sums up the past year’s achievements:

• Successful rounding up of the deliverables for HYFOMA, the EC thematic network project
• Implementation of strategic decisions to realise the objective of wider dissemination of training and guidelines, and to have broader industry impact

A more focused marketing strategy was developed towards the goal of becoming a self-supporting organisation

• Budget management to sustain current and future work by clustering the subgroups, providing assistance to regional sections and increasing reserves
• Enhancing the balance and encouraging diverse perspectives in the Executive Committee by inviting two new members from the food production sector
• New ExCo members: Ms Pascale Guérin,V-P International Relations of the French Regional team and H Hoogland, Lead Scientist Manufacturing Hygiene at Unilever Vlaardingen (NL)
• Three hygienic engineering training courses were conducted, using the teaching support videos in the Training Toolbox

Training objectives:

• To reach SME targets by conducting courses in the regions. Courses are planned in Spain, France and Finland this year
• To sponsor/fund EHEDG branded courses conducted by a pool of training experts
• To develop and maintain training materials for the training experts, who will conduct, monitor and evaluate branded EHEDG courses
• To make the specially produced Toolbox available for rent or sale as single DVDs or a full set, but only to participants who have attended the centralised course
• To encourage further training by those participants who may thereafter conduct their own courses within their company
• To prohibit commercial and profit-making use of the DVD materials
• To encourage the use of the Toolbox for teaching relevant courses at technical universities or colleges

Steam in the food industry

The need for a guidance document on suitable methods of producing and distributing steam that comes in direct contact with the product or product contact surfaces, has led to the creation of a new subgroup, headed by Andy Wells (Spirax Sarco).

There is a pressing need for food processors to use clean or filtered steam for food applications, typically where steam is used for direct injection and / or sterilisation of product contact surfaces. Normal plant or ‘utility’ steam is unacceptable as it is generated by boiler feed water, which generally carries harmful chemical additives in addition to the corrosion particles found in the steam system. Equipment producers and food manufacturers have committed to participating in the working party.A kick-off meeting will soon be scheduled.

Conveyors

Conveyor systems are installed primarily to ensure efficient flow of products in any factory. Hygienic design of conveyor systems for food processing relate, not only to the type of belt design and materials, but also to the overall design of the system; to accessibility and cleaning after installation.A new working party has been set up to discuss problems related to conveyors for different food applications, distinguishing between wet and dry use.

A number of conveyor belt manufacturers have signed up and an initial meeting was called by Jacques Kastelein, Chairman of the Equipment and Components cluster. The group decided that valid recommendations cannot be made without the participation of equipment manufacturers and food processors. In addition, the guideline working party should be led by an equipment manufacturer. Interested parties should contact the Secretariat.

Dry Materials seminar at ANUGA Foodtec

The seminar in Cologne, organised by the German regional section, attracted participants from the food, equipment and pharmaceutical industry, which heightened discussions on requirements and applications. The topics included Dry powder handling, Hygienic design in the baking industry, Contained filling and Requirements on powder transport equipment for CIP cleaning. Speakers were from J-Tec Material Handling, Reimelt, Hecht Anlagenbau and Coperion Waeschle.