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Introduction
Food safety and quality originates with the hygienic conditions of food processing plants (factories) (Meritech, 2016). Moreover, according to Campden BRI (n.d.), food processing areas need to be adequately designed and be hygienically maintained through regular and thorough cleaning and disinfection. This hygiene and level of cleanliness is not limited to the plant’s structural specifications but also extends to routine activities of site cleaning and decontamination, optimization of clean and adequate air circulation and training of factory personnel (Campden BRI, n.d.). All these factors strive to achieve two of the most important goals of food processing requirements for food plants. First, the continuous maintenance of a clean working and manufacturing environment and second, the minimization of the risks of food contamination (Campden BRI, n.d.). That is why throughout the world, countries have developed and instituted policies and mechanisms that ensure that factories involved in food processing clean and disinfect their places of work and maintain the set standards of asepticism. Therefore, in this industry ensuring that plants are cleaned, sanitized and disinfected efficiently and promptly is the single most fundamental requirement in the production of safe and healthful food. This prerequisite involves managerial, and oversight decisions that prescribe pertinent elements of plant hygiene such as when to clean, the frequency of cleaning, and what cleaning detergents to use to eliminate and prevent microbiological, physical and chemical contaminants that might be present in the factory. In Ireland, the situation is no different. Here, the country through institutional organs such as the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) oversees and implements all the food legislation in the country to achieve the highest possible level of food safety. This paper, therefore, explicates the Irish Legislations on factory hygiene, disinfecting agents used in these places with a particular focus on their suitability, applicability, and effectiveness. The paper also discusses the organization of sanitation programs as well as plant layout and segregation requirements for the foods in the high, medium as well as low-risk categories.
Food Safety in Processing Plants
Food safety is the foremost concern for every food production works, food processing undertakings, food handling procedures as well as food packaging and transportation throughout the world. Since antiquity, the concern for human health has seen the development of several regulations and implementation of increasingly stringent food safety standards in this industry (Meritech, 2016). Food manufacturing processes and processing equipment have also been at the forefront in the achievement of the same objective – clean and safe food. Systematic inspections by relevant authorities, administrative firms and third party auditors have also in the recent past been an integral component in the enforcement of food safety rules and regulations in Ireland. The result of these efforts has been resolute adherence to the acceptable food safety requirements.
While the above factors are significant and constitute one of the fundamental elements of the overall food safety oversight framework, it is the commitment that the food processing makes to the realization of the optimum food safety that is of paramount significance to this course (Meritech, 2016). Food processing factories have a commitment not only to their customers but also to their employees, stakeholders, the government, and third party entities to ensure the safety of all of their products. The fulfillment of this commitment is in the same way economically reflective of the company’s reputation and the brand of the commodities they produce, market, or associate with (Meritech, 2016).
Importance of Cleaning in Food Processing Factories
Even though cleaning assumes a critical role in the mandatory hygiene requirements in food processing factories, on itself it cannot be used as a substitute for plant disinfection. According to Tyborski (2013), cleaning is the act of removing undesirable substances from any surface be it of rooms, devices, or equipment. In food processing plants such unwanted elements include an array of contaminants such as chemical particles, allergens, microbes, and food residues. Cleaning, therefore, entails operations aimed at avoiding the occurrence of food-spoiling elements, pathogenic infestation as well as contamination of the related production assets such as machinery and tools (Tyborski, 2013). Cleaning is especially important in food processing premises because facilities experience deposition of high levels of organic residues that if unremoved create fertile ground for microbial growth. Cleaning is, as a result, essential as it ensures all contaminants are adequately removed before disinfection commences. Cleaning operations, thus hold the critical task of removing all the organic as well as inorganic residues in the plant and accordingly function as the indispensable step for the elimination of the nutrient base microorganisms requires for growth. According to Pfuntner (2011), cleaning, therefore, is an obligatory requirement for maintaining hygiene and forms part of a company’s integral component in the maintenance of in-house health and safety assurance portfolio (Pfuntner, 2011). Table 1 provides the classification of selected common cleaning ingredients for a food processing plant (Tyborski, 2013).
Disinfection Agents (DAs)
As shown in Table 1 below, chemicals are routinely used in the food factories to sanitize as well as disinfect food contact surfaces in the plant. Disinfection, for that reason, is an operation aimed at eliminating infectious microbes from a surface or premise using chemical means and at times physical ways (Pfuntner, 2011). These microbial agents as indicated in Table 1 can alternatively be used to serve other purposes such as sanitization and sterilization and can hence be sanitizers, antiseptics, or sterilizers. Due to the stated functions, DAs can operate depending on the intended purpose as chemicals, detergents, soaps, or compounds which can then be used to decontaminate surfaces and ensure that the foods handled are as free as possible from health-compromising agents (Pfuntner, 2011).
While DAs can be used to sanitize and disinfect surfaces, there is a clear-cut distinction between sanitizers and disinfectants as applied in the food processing industry. According to Schmidt (2015), disinfectants are substances that are used to inactivate irreversibly or completely obliterate a particular infectious agent found on hard surfaces. Sanitizers, on the other hand, are those chemical substances utilized to reduce microbiological agents that pose a danger to public health to levels considered safe based on set sanitation and safety standards (Pfuntner, 2011). All these substances are used in the food plants to regulate the presence of microbial agents to levels deemed safe to not compromise the quality or safety of the food in question (Pfuntner, 2011).
Information as retrieved from Tyborski, 2013
Whereas the efficacy of substance used to clean, sanitize or disinfect a surface is arises from its ability to reduce the level of contamination, cleaning must be performed at regular intervals with proper frequency so that the quality of the product is consistently maintained (Pfuntner, 2011). Several factors, however, determine the manner and level of cleaning efforts. Principal factors include the nature of the contaminant (type), the degree of contamination, the required or desired standard of cleanliness, the kind of surface to be cleaned, and the toxicity of the agent to the environment, people, and the product (Pfuntner, 2011).
However, depending on the plant legal framework, and the type of food handled together with other plant-specific internal factors such as cost, the kind of C-D used in food processing, plants must be first tested to verify that it has the desired attributes for consistent use. For instance, too little C-D can lead to unacceptable effective performance while too much of the agent can yield residues on the supposed cleaned surfaces. Similarly, Alkaline-based C-D agents are mostly efficient in eliminating organic wastes while acid-based agents are effective in detaching mineral residues (Tyborski, 2013). For that reason, it is common to find food processing factories adding different kinds of active ingredients to cleaning agents to achieve the ultimate C-D Agent effectiveness, a wider scale of purpose application, and agent function suitability. For example, surfactants moisten, diffuse, dissolve oils, and improve the cleaning reachability on their surfaces. Sequesters, on the other hand, reinforce cleaning performance. Therefore, a combination of such agents can result in a more suitable, relevant, and efficient C-D compound that results in satisfactory outcomes. Typical agents in food processing factories include hypochlorites, chlorine dioxide, Peroxyacetic Acid (PAA), and Quaternary Ammonium Compounds (QACs or Quats) among others (Pfuntner, 2011).
Irish Operational legislation on factory hygiene
In Ireland, like in several countries, all the activities involved in the production of food from processing through packaging, labeling, distribution, and retail are regulated by a set of laws, policy regulations, guidance, as well as multiple codes of practices (The Food Safety Authority of Ireland, 2016). The Irish legislations on food safety covers a broad spectrum of activities that relate to food safety covering such areas as foodstuff contamination, food flavoring, hygiene, and supplements. The country’s legislation also includes the general principles as they relate to food laws, food imports and exports, Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), and meat and meat-derived products among others (The Food Safety Authority of Ireland, 2016). Concerning meat and meat processing plants, for example, the Irish Legislation provides guidance on the same under the Food Safety Specific Regulation Requirement (EC) No 853/2004 (The Food Safety Authority of Ireland, 2016).
The Irish Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 lays down the base minimum operational requirements that all businesses including factories must implement in handling and processing foods of animal origin. It covers every stage of the production chain. Set out in Annex III in the First Section of Irish Regulation (EC) No 853/2004, these minimum requirements also serve to supplement food processing requirement specified in Regulation (EC) 852/2004 which applies to both processed and unprocessed foodstuffs of animal origin (The Food Safety Authority of Ireland, 2016). Key issues covered in these legislations include requirements governing the transportation of live animals to the slaughterhouses, operational as well as structural requirements for the meat plants and handling equipment, and general slaughter hygiene. They also apply to the hygiene of the personnel involved in the cutting and boning of meat as well as meat storage and transportation facilities (The Food Safety Authority of Ireland, 2016).
The specified plant operational requirement under Irish legislation first entails the provision of personnel accommodation for clothing because a change of cloth is necessary for the overall sanitation of the factory. In the food industries, cloth accommodation is necessary primarily to avoid the contamination of the food by agents from the external environment that could be carried on casual clothes. The provision also requires that these change rooms be hygienically maintained.
Secondly, as a standard working procedure in the country, all the food processing plants must receive certification from the relevant law enforcement agency to ascertain that they fulfill all the dictates of the Irish food legislation. Thirdly, other than complying with the set structural health and safety requirements, food processing plants are required to employ individuals in supervisory and managerial positions with the necessary sets of skills and knowledge on security and hygiene. The plants should also take upon themselves to provide training to its food handlers on food hygiene and organizational sanitization procedures. Fourthly, the plant should institute and implement feasible operating procedure on mechanisms of handling food recalls and excesses. Lastly, the plants should check and ensure that its food handlers do not have communicable diseases, maintain the highest level of cleanliness and are regularly vaccinated (The Food Safety Authority of Ireland, 2016).
Organization of sanitation programs
As pointed out previously, cleaning and sanitizing are the most crucial aspects of the hygiene programs of food processing plants (Schmidt, 2015). Therefore, sufficient time, parameters, and procedures should be articulated in their execution. Different organizations have different ways of executing their cleaning and sanitization programs. Typically, however, food processing plants operate on a well-defined cleaning frequency for each line of processing, for example, cleaning on a daily basis, before or after production, or in any way the company specifies. However, most sanitation programs normally run on a thorough evaluation and inspection procedure. They also tend to be executed on the backdrop of the company’s prescribed procedures for control, direct observation and on-site supervision of cleaners. In most cases, sanitation programs of most food processing factories run on a cleaning event that typically follows the clean-rinse-disinfect-rinse-sanitize procedure (Schmidt, 2015).
Plant segregation requirements
On a simpler level, food processing activities comprise taking of raw materials (unprocessed foodstuffs) and converting them into a product close enough for consumption or to a 'ready-to-eat' meal (Michigan State University & United Nations Industrial Development [UNIDO], 2011). Incidences of food poisoning, the outbreak of food-related diseases, and other health concerns has placed significant pressure on food processors to understand their food products thoroughly as well as configure their operating food safety systems and protocols accordingly. The result has been the need to define the minimum hygiene and environmental standards within which a food processing firm operates so as to avert contamination of these foods. For this reason, food handling ventures are classified as operating in a high care production zone or a high-risk production area. This classification refers to a part of a factory production line rather than a physical place (Food Safety Authority of Ireland [FSAI], 2014). Similarly, foods are classified into three distinct categories based on their ability to sustain the growth of microbiological organisms. These are High, Medium, and Low-risk foods (Michigan State University & UNIDO, 2011).
According to Michigan State University and UNIDO (2011), High-risk foods are food products that are in a ‘ready-to-eat’ form, does not require further food processing, and can pathogenically support the growth of dangerous microbes. High-risk foods include raw seafood and vegetables, selected meat and meat products, and dairy products. Because they are highly perishable, this category of foods requires careful handling and storage (Michigan State University & UNIDO, 2011). Medium risk foods are those foodstuffs which contain pathogens, can support the growth of food poisoning microbes, and require additional processing such as cooking to be safe for consumption. They include foods such as poultry and poultry products and fish.
Low-risk foods, on the other hand, refer to the food products which do not support food poisoning organisms, have been thoroughly cooked and can, therefore, be served directly. Foods in these categories are sugar, salt, canned and other long shelf-life food products (FSAI, 2014). Since food plants handle all these classes of foods, food processing premises are typically designed, built, and maintained in ways that offer maximum protection and control against the risk of product contamination (FSAI, 2014). For this reason and as highlighted above, there are three levels of hygiene status of a food product that concerns the processing environment and the kind of food in question. These standards include High Care Area, High-Risk Area, and the Good Manufacturing Practice.
The plant layouts under which foods are processed are primarily dependent on the degree of risk of maintaining the food safety. The level of food safety is then dependent on the food’s potential hazard, the type of food itself, and the type of technology employed in the manufacture of the food. The Good Manufacturing Practice Area is a minimum hygienic plant layout that deals with the production of low-risk foods such as a sugar confectionery or a flour mill factory.
High Care Area is a guarded, usually chilled area designed to a greater standard of hygiene to minimize product contamination by pathogenic microbes (Michigan State University & UNIDO, 2011). It is designed mainly for medium risk foods such as meat boning. In High-Risk Area layout, the processing zone is physically segregated and intended to ensure a very high degree of food handling hygiene. It applies to High-risk foods such the ‘ready to eat’ variety (FSAI, 2014).
Conclusion
Ensuring that food is safe for consumption is one of the most challenging activities, food processing factories have to meet and contend with in their daily operations. Not only is a clean food safe for consumption, but it is also a legal requirement for food providers to ensure that their facilities adhere to the set standards of hygiene. Food processing plants, therefore, carry out disinfection and sanitization of their premises to eliminate potential disease-causing microbes. Stringent laws and regulations have also been set in several countries such as Ireland to help in the achievement of the same. In most cases, cleaning and sanitizing goes together but are in essence separate operational activities designed to achieve different outcomes. Together, these actions remove pathogenic microbes (bacterial, viral, and fungal infestations), and physical, as well as chemical residues that can compromise both the safety and quality of the product. Cleaning and sanitization programs, procedures, and policies are unique to each food processing facility. They decide upon by such factors as the structural design of the plant, physical locality of the factory, available equipment and machinery used to process food, the type of residue and microbiological risks involved and the class of food processed. This paper has therefore looked at food safety legislations in Ireland and how they relate to factory food hygiene, types of disinfectants concerning their suitability, effectiveness, and applicability, the need for cleaning, factory sanitization programs, and types of plant layout requirements.
References
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