—— INTERNATIONAL B31377 Marketing & Technology Vol. 12 No. 1 - February 1998 US $10bylngoThathammer More and more, the abbreviations EHEDG, 3-A and CIP are to be found mentioned in advertisements company brochures and other types ofliterature. What stands behind these letters? Wat are they good for? Or do they have something to do with ‘work therapy’? This article willhelpto throw some light on the matter to the benefit of the readers. What is EHEDG? ‘The EHEDG (European Hygienic Equipment Design Group) is a con- sortium of equipment manufacturers, foodindustries, research institutesand public health authorities, founded in 1989 ith the aim ofpromotinghygiene during the processing and packing of food products. The European Commission (EC) of the European Union (EU) has provided the requiredlegisiation on foodsatety, in the form of two directives. The first is directive 89/392/EEC and covers the safety and hygiene of machinery, including machinery for the food industry. The second one, directive 93/43/EEC, covers the hygiene of foodstufts in general. Both directives, require that food is produced in a hygienicway andthat food processing machinery is of hygienic design. However, it is left to the industry to decide on how to comply with these requirements. To assist in the design of safe and hygienic machinery and associated equipment, the EU has mandated the European Federation of Standardization Instituies, CEN, to produce standards. The EHEDG is well represented in the responsible technical committee of the CEN (TC 153)and its working groups. Toassist in the development of the standards, the EHEDG has set up a number of committees to produce guidelines ona list of subjects surrounding hygienic design criteria, ranging fromthe design of components and process lines, methods to verify compliance, through to applications in process and pack- aging lines, The production of stand- ardsisatime-consuming process and sofarnoCENstandardshaveyetbeen issued. Ontheotherhand, the EHEDG. guidelines have been published and are available from the EHEDG secret- ariat. 1997 the standard EN 1672-2, 97, July with the title *Food prcessing machinery - basic concepts. Part 2 Hygiene requirements” has been published, Meanwhile, the EHEDG guidelinesare widely used, and equipment manufac- turers often mentionintheirpublications compliance with the EHEDG design criteria, There are currently ten insti- tutesin Europe where EHEDG methods ‘may be used commercially to test the cleanability and other hygienic char- acteristics of food processing equip- ‘ment. The EHEDG actively promotes har- | monization of hygienic design requirements and therefore co-oper- ates with many other organiza- tions with an interestin the sub- ject, both inEurope andinternationally Of particular inter- est is the co- | EHEDG, 3-A, CIP - The Importance of Hygienic Design in Measuring Systems - Part One operation with the American 3-A Organization, which has been pro- ducing standards on hygiene in the USA for a very long time (and in close cooperation with the US authorities, viz. the FDA and the USDA) and with organizations suchas he Intemational Standardization Organization (ISO), International Dairy Federation (IDF), National Sanitation Foundation (NSF), the European Federation of Food Science and Technology (EFFoST) and others, What is 3-A? The 3-A undertaking represents a voluntary approach in the USA to safeguarding publichealth andproduct, safety through an industry-regulatory program of sanitary standards for equipment used in processing dairy foods and egg products. The task of the3-ASanitary Standards Committees, istoformulate standards and accepted practices toapply to processing equip- ment and systems. These standards aredeveloped through the cooperative efforts oflocal, state and federalsanitar- ians, equipment manufacturers and equipment users, so that they are acceptable to those involved in the sanitary aspects of the dairy and related food industries. In the United States, the 3-A Sanitary Standards and Accepted Practices represent criteria for cleanability of dairy and food processing equipment. The ult mate goal is to protect dairy and food Figure 1: A typical measuring system 34 FOOD MARKETING TECHNOLOGY FEBRUARY 1998products from contamination and to ensurethatallproductcontactsurfaces canbe automatically cleanedin place orcan bedismantled easily for manual cleaning, and when necessary, for inspection. Interest in the formulation of sanitary standards was recognized initially by the fluid milkand ice cream industries, Inthe 1920s, two trade associations, known today as the Milk Industry Foundation (MIF) and the Dairy and Food Industries Supply Association (OFISA), along with one professional association, the Intemational Associa- tion of Milk, Food and Environmental Sanitarians |AMFES), formulated the first uniform standards for fitings used ‘onmilkpipe lines. Ultimately, the stand- ards became popularly known as the S-ASanitary Standards, in recognition of the three founding associations, andthenamehasremained unchanged since. Gradually, other associations became aware of the fittings criteria, and were drawn into a widening orbit ofequipmentstandaraization, | Today, the 3-A Sanitary Standards ‘Committees consist of representation from the Dairy Industry Commitioe (DIC), IAMFES, US Public Health Service (USPHS), USDA, and the United Egg Associaton (UEA). The DIC for instance is made up of six organizationsincluding five processor organizations: The American Butter Institute, The American Dairy Products Institute; The International Ice Cream ‘Association, The Milk Industry Found- ation and The National Cheese Insti- tute, The sixth group, representing manufacturers of mk producthandiing and processing equipment, is DFISA, | who acts as the on-going secretariat for the 3-A Sanitary Standards Committees. In addition the National Milk Producers Federation and the USDA-Dairy Grading Branch provide representation andhave inputintothe 3-A program. The standards and practices are published in Dairy and Food and Environmental Sanitation, the primary publication of IAMFES. ‘The 3-A Committees and procedures remainasone of few vestiges seeking democratic processes of voluntary solutions to problems. The success of 3-Ais due to the mutual cooperation and trust of manufacturers, users and sanitarians in objectively meeting a need for specific standards and prac- tices. The value of this joint effort is evidenced in the effective application | ofthese standards andpractices within the dairy and food industry over the years. 3-A criteria is being used throughout North American and is gaining worldwide recognition, | | What is Cleaning In Place (CIP)? CIPisa process in which cleaning and disinfecting solutions are circulatedin loop without having to dismantle the ‘equipment{or treatment. Such circula- tory cleaning systems are often auto- matic, controlled by special programs, Itis necessary to meet the following requirements: 1.Dedicated control system, separate from the process/product control system, 2 Use of valves which completely rule STOCK ROTOMAT® out any intermixing of product and cleaning solution. 3.Appropriate design ofthe production plant to ensure that all parts which ‘come into contact with the product are also subsequently contacted by the cleaning solution and allow a flowrate sufficient to ensure cleanabilty 4.Use of corrosion-resistant materials, forall parts of the process equipment which come into contact with the product or cleaning solution. 5.CIP can be carried outwhereveritis, possible to form a circult, e.g. tank systems, process lines in operational facilities, processing equipment in breweries, milk processing equipment in dairies, or in drying equipment for milk powder. Control of a CIP process: 1.Automatic control of each individual cleaning phase is carried out by & control unit. 2.Control unitis programmable 3.Control ofthe concentration of the solutions is determined inside the Cleaning vessel through conductivity measurements STOCK STERILISATIONSSYSTEME THE REAL SOLUTION TO AVOID OVERCOOKING IN THERMAL PROCESSED SHELF STABLE FOODS KeyNo.1111 {Get acknowledged with this unto-date technology Tiemann Stock Maschinenfabrik Gmibi .0.Box 2611 D2A516 Newmont Germany Fa 494321 188205 FOOD MARKETING TECHNOLOGY FEBRUARY 1998 35New products to optimize a measuring system Cleaning oftanks orpipescan be easy - as long as there are no dead legs, large protrusions (such as sensors), bad sealings or too rough surfaces in them. Production companies are completely at the mercy of the equip- ment manufacturers and they in turn areat the mercy of the suppliers ofthe individual components for their equip- mentor plant. Insome cases, hygienic design is taken for granted, and the user has to put his or her faith in the | suppliers competence tomeethygienic requirements. Trustmay be agood thing, butacheck isoften better. This phrase taken from a German proverb should nowadays alsobe applied during the evaluation of. on-line measuring systems, usually @ critical part within a hygienic process. Although @ measuring system could include various other parts, in this article our definition of a measuring oh : Figure 2. Optimum postionng of the O-ng Photos: Meter Toledo systems tobe understood as foliows: ‘Sensor (e.g. pH, redox, oxygen, conductivity, and turbidity sensors) Housing for mounting thesensor ina vessel or pipe ‘Weld-insocketformounting the housing (threaded socket, TriClamp socket or other types) Cable to transfer the signal Figure 9: Rough surface of conventional scan material Transmittertoanalyzethe signal Only those parts which are in contact with the medium are relevant for hygienic tests. In our case these are the sensor, the housing and the socket. The combination of these three parts must be a hygienic unit’ and only if all three parts have passed the hygiene test, can we talk about a real hygienic measuring system. With the help of EHEDG, CENand 3-A guidelines it is now possible to design sensors, housings and sockets insuchaway that complete cleanabilty at and around the sensor is ensured land risk of contamination thereby severely limited The three basic critical parameters which decide whether a design is hygienic or not are: Shape: Especially poorly accessible places like edges, angles, joints, gaps, tube connections etc, are difficult to clean. Such points should be avoided or, if this is not possible, optimally formed. Material: Mostly stainless steel, plastic or rubber. The cleaning conditions have to be adapted according to the material specifications (e.g. temper- ature-resistance of rubber and corro- sion of metal. Important: Two different metals together with electrolyte create a galvanicelement! ‘Surface: Mechanicalor chemical hand- ling, corrosion etc. can be the cause ofa too high surface roughness. This influences both the intensity of fouling ‘and soll separation. Milk and milk ‘components, micro-organisms or dirt from different sources etc. adhere easily to rough surfaces but scarcely on smooth surfaces. Especially corroded surfaces, plastic or rubber tendto increase dirt scaling. Metal surfaces etc. are often coated, ‘This knowledge can be carried over into the design ofa sensor housing by implementing the following measures: 36 FOOD MARKETING & TECHNOLOGY FEBRUARY 1998Fguie 5 (ot Rough welis Figure 6 Smoath welds 1. Optimum positioning of the O-ring Through optimum positioning of the O- ring, a practically crevice-free sealing between sensorandhousingiscreated This feature, together with aquaiitative, | high standard O-ring, forms the basis for the successful accomplishment of CIP procedures. 2. Surface of O-ring material The rough surface of conventional silicon material, even if FDA positive- listed, providesalarge contactsurface for germs, making hygienic cleaning difficult. There is a latent high risk of | contamination through process and bacterial residues, The smooth surface of the specially | manufactured O-rings of FDA positive- listed siicon materialensures maximum sterility and cleanabilily. The risk of contamination of the product after cleaning is thereby minimal 3. Smooth crevice-free welds ‘Smooth crevice-free welds in the pro- duct area are a must for hygienic processes, | Part2 of this article will be published in the next issue. There, we will dis- cuss the sense of a hygiene certi- fication test and describe an EHEDG test for housings and sensors in full detail, Key No. 38568 Literature Kunze, W. (1986): Technology Brewing and Matting, VLB Bertin | Spreer'E. (1995): Technologie der Mich | vorarboitung, Behr eVeriag, Hamburg ss The Author Ingo Thathammer stuciadfaod chemisty at the University of IsnyfGermany where he worked on research and development of ‘Sensors for more than 4 years. Today, he is Product Manager tor Bilogical Procassesin the Business UnitProcess at Mtier Toledo GmbH in Switzerland and specifically A responsitie tor products and systems to meet the hygienic demands of heFeod and Beverage industry New High-Capacity l|QF Freezer Introduced ‘A Swedish company's complementing its IQF coverage with the market introduction of the 'FLoFREEZE M’ IQF freezer, a new line designed for capacities up to 12 tons per hour and for long, continuous production runs. As the IQF market continues to grow, certain processors have expressed the need for bigger IQF capacity as a way ofexpandingormaintaining market share. This new line is in response to that need. Inthe new freezerthe airlowinthetwo freezing zones interact, creating atur- bulence thatensures fast, gentle crust- freezing in the initial zone, when the product is in its most fragile state, Moisture is locked in, thereby preser- ving taste, texture, appearance and weight ‘The easy-to-clean IOF Track’ is also incorporated in the new line. The all- stainless interiorand builtin air defrost system provide further assurance of, food safety. ‘The freezer can be run continuously for extended periods, with or without beltagitation to accommodate products as small aslong-grainrice andas large as corn on the cob. The user-friendly controls feature aquick-selectionmenu of preset operating parameters that allowinstantswitching fromone product toanother, as wellas pre-programmed cleaning and defrosting ‘The company draws onanexperience in IOF technology dating back some 35 years. Key No. 38578 FOODMARKETING& TECHNOLOGY FEBRUARY 1998 Not only steam- peeling Approved steam- peeling technique with capacities from O45 to 42 tons/h and low peeling waste. Delivery of complete plants (i.e. Chips, French Fries etc.). Manufacture of special products of stainless steel also for the nood-food | industry. Development and production fiom one company ~ delivery all over the world! Test us! PKC GmbH Maschinen- u, Anlagenbau Buchenweg 3 D-57632 Seifen * Germany Plant Istrae 9-11 { 1.56305 Dottesfeld Tel. +49.2685.1017, Fax 149.2685.1010 | Ss Key No. 1189