Whitepaper: Safety and efficiency as growing criteria in food production

In the food production industry, product contamination by micro-organisms such as bacteria or fungi presents a potential and omnipotent risk. It is therefore important to prevent any type of contamination and to facilitate its removal…

The public’s access to multimedia also makes it more sensitive to the importance of hygienic design. This is why more and more facility and machine builders, as well as manufacturers of individual components of these, face this increasing challenge.

The term hygienic design comprises the hygienic design of structural elements, components and production facilities in the food industry under the following premises:

• visible contamination
• easy cleaning

The principles of hygienic design help to optimise designs to ensure the comprehensive cleanability of the materials, surfaces and constructional elements. In this way, hygienic design supports the food industry in its endeavours to sustainably increase product quality and safety.

Conclusion: hygienic design significantly contributes to quality assurance.

Increasing costs for wages, energy and quality assurance means that the daily cleaning of plant facilities and machines in the food industry is not an inconsiderable cost factor. In addition, the efficiency of production is reduced due to cleaning-related down-times. The less contamination estimated on machines and facilities, the shorter the cleaning times and down-times, thus lowering the total operating costs.

Conclusion: hygienic design saves resource costs.

More and more production companies are changing their way of thinking when it comes to energy management and environmental protection (keyword DIN EN ISO 50001). For production facilities which can be cleaned easily, quickly and effectively, the consumption of energy and cleaning agents can be reduced.

Conclusion: hygienic design supports companies in their efforts to reduce energy consumption and protect the environment.

The topic of hygiene is increasingly becoming a hot topic of discussion, not only within food production. In the healthcare industry, the incidence of multi-drug resistant micro-organisms is increasing, which poses an incalculable risk to health. MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) is resistant to many antibiotics (multi-resistant), enabling illnesses to progress to a more severe form. The only way to prevent MRSA is through comprehensive hygiene practices. Hygienic design helps minimise the risk of contamination.