Cleaning and Disinfection Applications in Food and Beverage Processing Plants

The management team of cleaning and disinfection in a food and beverage processing plants often do not clearly understand the reasons for plant hygiene or the scientific principles and technology behind effective cleaning. This is essential in order to comply with legal and technical standards and ensure food hazards are controlled.

Essential knowledge required for effective cleaning programs within food and beverage processing operation including reasons for the chemistry, the principles of cleaning and disinfection, equipment, methods and monitoring of hygiene applications can be found in this article.

Why is Cleaning and Disinfection so Important?

Most important of this topic is to understand the need to clean and disinfect your plant and equipment sufficient to produce food free of physical, allergenic, chemical and microbiological hazards. Also, it is really important that employees understand the reasons why a food and beverage plant must be cleaned. Basicly instructing people is seldom enough to maintain high standards – they also have to understand the reasons why, including:

• To avoid pest infestation
• To reduce the risks from food hazards – food poisoning and foreign body contamination
• To maintain product shelf-life
• To meet the requirements of global food safety standards
• To present a hygienic visual image
• To comply with local and international legislation
• To meet specific customer requirements
• To maintain positive audit and inspection outcomes
• To allow maximum plant productivity
• To promote safe working conditions for staff, contractors and visitors

At the most basic level, the visual appearance of a food processing facility is an indication of the standards and culture of the company. It has a strong impact on the perception of anyone including auditor or visitor and can influence the overall outcome of audits and securing new business.

Cleaning costs money. It is often accepted as a necessary tool which does not add value to a product directly. The cost of cleaning and the cost of not cleaning are regularly measured by companies operating in this industry. The main elements of a cleaning programme include:

• Labor and supervision
• Water supply, treatment and purchase
• Chemicals
• Water heating
• Downtime
• Cleaning equipment
• Corrosion
• Effluent
• Monitoring

Labor is normally the biggest factor accounting for over 60% of the total cleaning budget whether resourced under contract or in-house. When cost pressures come to bare usually labor is generally cut back. While this might be saving save money in the short term, over time it will lead to a number of indirect costs including a reduction in shelf life, increase in product complaints, recalls, regulatory restriction and a loss of business. The viability of the business will ultimately be impacted. The next most significant costs are water and chemicals which can vary depending on the source and supplier.

CLEANING

Cleaning is a physio-chemical process involving a number of factors.

Soil: In food processing operations soils and deposits originate from the ingredients used in the preparation of the product. These soils include the following:

Not all the deposits mentioned pose a serious risk; however, all create a poor visual appearance. Some of those act as an excellent substrate for absorbing other soils and micro-organisms. The key factor is that each is chemically different and requires different cleaning methods. It is important to identify the typical soils present and design your program accordingly.

Substrate: The substrate is the materials of construction found in food processing plants. The standard of materials can vary with their ease of cleaning and resistance to corrosion with chemicals.

When selecting surface materials, you should ensure they are compatible with the chemical and physical production environment.

Cleaning Factors: Factors are the core driver behind all cleaning processes. This parameters is definitely made up of a combination of factors as seen in the illustration. Most of the time, the aim is to obtain a balance consistent with cost, efficacy and food safety. This is where a knowledgeable chemical supplier can assist in the development of effective cleaning procedures.

• Manuel Cleaning: Manual cleaning is the universal practise; the design, configuration and construction of equipment or the whole equipment which necessities the manual cleaning for the piece of equipment. The efficiency of the manual cleaning accomplished by training the cleaning operators, ensuring exact method of cleaning in the manual cleaning SOP, validating the method from different operators and verifying the procedure with interval of time.
• COP Cleaning: Cleaning Out of Place (COP) is defined as a method of cleaning equipment items by removing them from their operational area and taking them to a designated cleaning station for cleaning. It requires dismantling an apparatus, washing it in a central washing area using an automated system, and checking it at reassembly.
• CIP Cleaning: Cleaning In Place (CIP) can be described as the cleaning of equipment and vessels at the same place without movement of them to a different place. The cleaning agents can be transferred to the vessel or equipment types either thorough fixed piping or flexible hoses.

CIP System

DISINFECTION

Soil deposits can harbour potentially harmful microorganisms which if left to grow can present a greater risk to the health of the consumer. In order to control this risk the soil must first be removed using an effective cleaning procedure, generally including a detergent as previously explained. It is necessary to reduce the levels of possibility of the microorganisms and this is where the process of disinfection is used. It should be noted that sterilization, which is the elimination of all microorganisms is neither practical nor necessary in the disinfection of food plants.

The group of chemicals known as disinfectants share many attributes with detergents but are different in terms of their function which is to kill microorganisms that are left on the surface after cleaning. The biocidal effect varies depending on the active components used in the disinfectant. It can be achieved by affecting the integrity of the cell wall or by intercepting with critical metabolic reactions inside the cell.

Most disinfectants are oxidizing and will react with organic materials including microorganisms. These particular disinfectants; include chlorine, iodophors and peracetic acid. They are quick acting and broad spectrum. They are normally not stable in hot water and corrosive on a range of metals and other materials. Non oxidising disinfectants are typically based on quaternary ammonium compounds(QAC) which are a class of cationic surfactant, amphoterics, alcohols and aldehydes. They are usually heat stable, less corrosive and have a residual biocidal or biostatic effect.

The kill effect required from a disinfectant can vary for each microorganism and therefore it should be carefully formulated to ensure it is effective. Some may be ineffective at low temperatures and unsuitable for a chill. Well-designed disinfectants may employ several different biocidal components including surfactants and chelates to support the killing action. Disinfectants should be chosen in conjunction with the supplier, taking into account the surface materials, soils and the specific microorganisms to be controlled.

CLEANING AND DISINFECTION PROCEDURE

Cleaning and disinfection is a complex and combined process to implement successfully. To ensure it is conducted correctly a defined and systematic approach is required that takes into account a number of factors previously covered.

A collection of these cleaning and disinfection procedures forms a "Cleaning Procedure" which is plant specific designed to be able meet the needs of the company.

Cleaning and Disinfection" is the beginning, not the end, of the production cycle and a key component of Food Safety Preventive Controls.

"Commitment" and "Focus on Fundamentals" are the keys to success.

Thank you for your time!

References

H. L. M. Lelieveld - Hygiene in Food Processing: Principles and Practices

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)