1.2.2 Hygienic design of facilitiesand equipment
Hygienic design of foodproductionfacilities,processingequipment,etc.,is a
mostimportantfactorin ensuringthatfoodis safeand wholesome.Poorly
designedfarms, factories and equipment can easilyresultin contamination of
food products and lead to food poisoning incidents. Furthermore, design
deficiencies mayresultin lossesof product due to spoilage, increased cleaning
costs and reduced production time. These aspects are also of possible
environmentalconcern.Therefore,it is essentialthat bothmanufacturersand
usersof foodprocessingequipment are awareof hygienicdesign principles and
requirementssuchas those described in EU Directives98/37/ECand 93/43/
EEC,and HygienicDesignDINEN 1672/2 (1997).Hygienic productionof food
thusdepends upona combination of foodprocessingprocedures and hygienic
designof buildings and equipment, in full compliancewithlegislation.
1.2.3 Sanitation
Sanitation is a termfor the hygienicdisposalor recyclingof wastematerials,
particularly humanexcrement.In consequence, sanitation is an importantpublic
healthmeasure that is essentialfor the preventionof disease. In the USA,thereis
a particularfocuson the concept of foodsanitation,whichmay be definedas the hygienicpracticesdesigned to maintain a cleanand wholesomeenvironment for foodproduction,preparationand storage' (Marriot,1999).Thisseconddefinition linkshygienemorespecifically withmaintaininga cleanworking environment for foodprocessing.Evenhere,hygienerequirements extendbeyondthe practice of cleaningitself to incorporate those elementsthat makeeffectivecleaning possible and allowcontrolof insects and other pests.In the microbiological sense,sanitation is defined asa cleaningand disinfectionprocess that resultsin a
99±99.9%reductionin the number of vegetativebacteriapresent'.
1.3 Sourcesof foodcontamination^4
Thereare threemaintypes of foodcontaminant:
∑ microbiological;
∑ chemical;
∑ physical.
Foodscan becomecontaminatedduring growthand harvesting of raw materials,
storageand transport to the factory,and processing into finishedproducts. The
finalproductmay then become (re-)contaminated duringsubsequentstorageand
transport to shops,and during storageand preparationby the consumer. The
mainsourcesof contaminationare the environment,animalsand people. The
maintransmission routes(vectors) of contaminationare contaminatedsurfaces,
- Partlybasedon Lelieveld(2003).
Introduction 13