All Posts Tagged: Hygienic Design

The gloves are off!

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Richard Mallett

What an interesting article in the European Cleaning Journal that reports on a study about poor hand hygiene within healthcare workers who wear gloves!

This hazard is something also recognised within the food industry of course. We have seen with our own eyes the lack of hand washing and significant potential for cross contamination caused by catering workers wearing gloves and then failing to exercise proper control. The simple rules are:-

  1. Consider the glove really just as a “second skin” – you will pick up the same bacteria from raw foods and dirty surfaces. You do not become invincible or invisible to microbes!
  2. Change gloves frequently – especially after touching dirty areas or raw food.
  3. Change damaged gloves.
  4. Wash the hands when changing gloves – the build up of perspiration and warmth perpetuates the increase in bacterial population on the hands.
  5. Make sure the gloves are made of food safe material – look for instance for the little glass and fork symbol on the packaging which will tell you this. Look for some sort of accreditation to food safety such as the globally trusted HACCP International certification.
  6. Blue gloves are better! If they do fragment then the control of last resort is that the catering worker should be able to identify fragments of broken glove contaminating food

Proper glove control as well as hand hygiene is just one of the things that are assessed during MQM Consulting Food Hygiene Audits.

US Canteloupe Listeria outbreak linked to packaging machinery

Posted on November 6, 2011 by Richard Mallett

This recent and very serious Listeria outbreak in the US has been reported by Food Quality News as the worst in modern history with a death toll of 29.

Listeria can, once it takes hold within the food area, be very difficult indeed to eliminate. The organism is associated with areas of wet and standing water, such as floors and drains. Using very high pressure hoses can exacerbate the problem causing micro-aerosols which spread far and wide around the food room, contaminating other surfaces and food equipment.

A higher risk of Listeria within raw materials and ingredients needs to be highlighted within the assessment of hazard significance as part of the HACCP Plan. Then the risk to the food stream and factory can be appreciated and effective controls proposed and implemented. Those controls will centre around the key pre-requisites of selection and maintenance of materials used in construction of the food room, design and hygiene of equipment, and effective, validated cleaning and disinfection procedures using clean and well designed cleaning equipment and chemicals.

Milan HOST exhibition

Posted on October 30, 2011 by Richard Mallett

The HOST exhibition last week was simply huge! 18 halls of equipment for catering and hospitality and several hundred exhibitors. It was great to see such activity and such a positive outlook in the face of a gloomy economy.

So many of the equipment manufacturers take hygienic design on board now. This is heartening. On many stands there was evidence of a high degree of certification, to ISO 9001, CE, health & safety and food safety standards. Those who excel in hygienic design and control can take advantage of a specific certification mark awarded for “fitness for purpose” in a food environment. This is good news for all who are concerned about food safety, providing the assurance of mitigated risk for those buying equipment and providing a unique marketing platform for those equipment providers who achieve certification.

A good cleaning article

Posted on September 25, 2011 by Richard Mallett

Well done to Vermop!

The German cleaning equipment company has released an excellent guide in European Cleaning Journal.

It points out some of the fundamental assumptions that can be made in critical sectors such as medical and care and lead to infection and outbreaks. The guidance provided of course rings true for the equally critical food catering and processing sector.

I think of particular use is the reference to design of cleaning equipment and the sanitation of that very equipment to ensure that it remains safe to use.

It’s interesting to note that one of the most widely recognised Technical Standard, the BRC Global Standard for Food Safety, now Issue 6, takes the issue of cleaning and disinfection to higher levels with a clause specifically directing the use of ATP swab testing, microbiological or chemical analysis to verify the absolute cleanliness of critical surfaces.

You might want some help reviewing your housekeeping and hygiene procedures? Do contact us if you are in the catering, hospitality or food processing sector and want assurance that you have considered appropriate controls for this potential route of contamination.

Introduction To New Scheme

Posted on December 15, 2009 by Richard Mallett

A scheme now exists in Europe for providers of services and equipment into the food industry to be measured against a quality standard. Not entirely unlike the BRC Standard for food producers this will provide an assurance to the food industry that their equipment and service suppliers have been audited and checked with contribution to food safety and quality in mind. The service is provided by HACCP Europe, falling under the parent banner of HACCP International. The reference to HACCP is a clear indication of the purpose of this standard and ties up this important food safety management tool, implemented by the food industry already, with these service and equipment providers.

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