CLEANING, HYGIENE & SANITISATION
Creating a successful Food Safety Plan for your plant In the food, dairy and beverage industry, the importance of maintaining a hygienic processing environment is key to ensure product quality. Spills and splatters during processing can cause food processing equipment to get dirty and create havoc in a production environment. Liezl Siebrits, sales manager at SMC Corporation shares how to ensure a safe and hygienic food production environment.
T
he Food Safety
process piping, tanks, heat exchangers
Modernization Act
and other equipment. All walls and floors
requires a proactive
in process areas also need to be washed
approach to controlling
down. Harsh chemicals like chlorine
contamination hazards before
(bleach), caustic soda concentration
they become an issue. All food
and, more recently, peracetic acid (PAA,
processing plants need a Food
a combination of hydrogen peroxide
Safety Plan in place to sanitise
and acetic acid) are commonly used.
food equipment and remove
Temperatures 60°C – 85°C and high-
residue that can harbour
pressure sprays also comes into play with
dangerous bacteria. As part of
these procedures.
the Food Safety Plan Clean-
Well-designed production equipment
in-place (CIP) cleaning occurs in
hygienically designed and built to the
The following table shows how different substances can be removed with the right product for each purpose. Air impurities Main line filter
Piping Rust Oil
Moisture
Carbon
Piping debris
Compressed air with impurities
Air compressor
20
Membrane dryer
Moisture
Solid particles Vapours
May 2022 | FOOD REVIEW
After cooler Air tank
Air dryer
Micro mist separator
Activated carbon filter
Compressed air without impurities
Debris
Mist separator
