earlier, thus increasing the operational efficiency of the production line.
Labor, however, is not the only area
that sanitary design may impact. By
looking at the cost of an asset over its expected life cycle, we begin to see areas of
operational expense other than labor
that may be decreased with the application of sanitary design principles.
Utilizing sanitary design principles in
projects may result in the following:
• Less rejected product
• Less product placed on hold
• Less effluent and biochemical oxygen
demand
• Less pre-operational testing expense
• Less investigative swabbing expenses
• Less consumer complaints
• A possibly lower potential for a recall
of contaminated product
As shown above, the application of
sound sanitary design principles to food
manufacturing capital projects has the
ability to deliver more value than at first
glance. To better understand that value,
an organization must be able to recog-
nize that sanitary design not only helps
to support their food safety philosophy
but also supports the manufacturer’s
business philosophy.
No organization has unlimited capital
to spend, but sanitary design principles
may be an area that provides a greater
benefit from the capital than previously
thought, not from an ROI perspective
but from an on-going operational perspective that may return substantial savings to the bottom line for many years to
come. An organization’s leadership must
become more knowledgeable regarding
the value of sanitary design, and those
leaders must understand how sanitary
design supports the overall business philosophy of the organization to help
guide the present and future expenditure
of capital dollars on projects.
American Meat Institute, the Grocery Manufacturers Association, and the European
Hygienic Equipment & Design Group, the basic sanitary design principles are the following:
• Separate Raw from Ready-to-eat (RTE)
This principle revolves around the building design and equipment layout so that
personnel and material movements are capable of being managed to prevent potential
cross-contamination (see Figure 2). Typically, this principle has physical separation of
the raw side of the building from the RTE side of the building for both material and
personnel.
Figure 2: Ideal Facility Flow
Sanitary Design
Principles for Food
Manufacturing
So what are the key sanitary design
principles for food manufacturing?
While there are different versions of sani-
tary design principles, such as from the
Since many food plants are 30 years old or older and were added onto over the
years, physically separating personnel and material movements between raw and RTE
foods must be considered for all capital projects.
