pieces of equipment; see Reducing noise exposure in the food anddrink
industries, FoodInformation SheetNo. 32, http://www.hsebooks.co.uk.
Finally, segregation is also now considered as a methodof increasing
manufacturingflexibility. For example, by splittingdownlarge processingareas
into smaller sub-units (e.g.a single12 line meatslicinghall into threefully
segregated sub-units of fourslicinglines), cross-contaminationbetween lines
can be eliminated. This is particularly the casewhen some linesneedto be
shutdown for cleaningor maintenance while the others need to remainin
production.Manylarge,multisite, internationalfoodmanufacturers are also
considering the layout and segregation of newand existing factories suchthat
they are suitablefor multiproductfoodprocessing.Thisallows the manufacturer
the flexibilityto changethe natureof the product producedat the factorywithin
a shorttimeperiod,to takeadvantageof ever-changingeconomic conditions.
8.4 Barrier3: High-care/riskareas
The thirdbarrier withina factory segregatesan area in whichfoodproductsare
furthermanipulated or processed following a decontamination treatment. It is,
therefore, an areainto whicha foodproduct is movedafterits microbiological
contenthas beenreduced.
Manynameshavebeenadoptedfor this thirdlevelprocessingareaincluding
cleanroom'(orsalleblanche' in France)followingpharmaceuticalterminology,
high-hygiene',high-care' or high-risk'area. In somesectors,particularly chilled,ready-to-eatfoods,manufacturershavealso adoptedopposingnamesto describesecondbarrierareassuchaslowrisk'or lowcare'.Muchof this terminologyis confusing,particularlythe conceptsoflow'areaswhichcan imply
to employeesand otherpeoplethat loweroverallstandardsare acceptablein these
areaswhere,for example,operationsconcernedwith rawmaterial reception,
storageand initialpreparationare undertaken.In practice,all operationsconcerned
withfoodproductionshouldbe carriedout to the higheststandard.Unsatisfactory
practicesin so-calledlow-riskareasmay,indeed,put greaterpressureson the
`barriersystem'separatingthe secondand thirdlevelprocessingareas.
To helpclear this confusion,the ChilledFood Association in the UK (Anon,
1997)established guidelinesto describe the hygienestatusof chilledfoods
(baseduponmicrobiological criteria) and indicate the area status of wherethey
shouldbe processed afterany heat treatment. Three levelsweredescribed: high-
risk area (HRA),high-care area (HCA)and goodmanufacturing practice(GMP)
zones. Theirdefinitionswereas follows:
∑ HRA:an area to processcomponents,allof whichhavebeenheat treatedto
90 ÎC for 10 min(for psychrotrophic Clostridiumbotulinum spores) or
70 ÎC for 2 min (for vegetativepathogens),and in whichthereis a risk of
contaminationbetween heattreatment and packsealing that maypresenta
foodsafetyhazard.
Improvingzoningwithinfoodprocessingplants 155