Hygiene in Food Processing

Principles and Practice

H.L.M. Lelieveld, John Holah, David Napper

• Publisher: Woodhead Publishing
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9780857098634
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Food Science
• Index: Technology & Engineering

The hygienic processing of food concerns both potential hazards in food products and the regulation, design, and management of food processing facilities. This second edition of Hygiene in Food Processing gives a revised overview of the practices for safe processing and incorporates additional chapters concerning pest control, microbiological environmental sampling, and the economics of food plants.

Part one addresses microbial risks in foods and the corresponding regulation in the European Union. Part two discusses the hygienic design of food factory infrastructure, encompassing the design and materials for the factory itself, as well as food processing equipment. This edition includes a new chapter on the control of compressed gases used to pneumatically operate equipment. Part three focuses on cleaning and disinfection practices in food processing. The chapter on cleaning in place also considers more cost-effective systems, and complements the additional chapter on maintenance of equipment. These chapters also explore issues such as the hygiene of workers, potential infection by foreign bodies, and pest control. Further, the chapter on microbiological sampling explains how to calculate the risk of contamination depending on the product's environment.

This essential second edition is useful to professionals responsible for hygiene in the food industry. It provides a comprehensive, yet concise and practical reference source for food plant managers, suppliers of food processing equipment, building contractors, and food inspectors looking for an authoritative introduction to hygiene regulation, hygienic design, and sanitation.

• Provides a revised overview of the practices for safe processing
• Incorporates additional chapters concerning pest control, microbiological environmental sampling, and the economics of food plants
• This essential second edition is useful for professionals responsible for hygiene in the food industry

Part I

Microbial food safety risks and hygiene regulation

1

Food hygiene regulation in the European Union (EU)

B. Van der Meulen Wageningen UR, The Netherlands

H. Van de Weerd Strat-X bvba,Belgium

Abstract

The nature and application of the regulatory regime in the EU are described and the structure of the control system is covered before examining the EU legal requirements. There is further discussion on the legislation applicable to retailing and catering for all foods, and to the whole supply chain for many foods. The specific requirements applicable to the production of foods of animal origin on an industrial scale and the rules and controls smaller businesses have to comply with are also discussed. The chapter then considers future trends before concluding with a list of sources of further information.

Key words

hygiene regulation

legislation

food business operators

HACCP

1.1 Introduction

European law attaches prime importance to the safety of food products. To live up to this requirement, the food industry needs to apply quality management systems. The industry is achieving this. Independent auditing of these systems to demonstrate their performance is becoming increasingly common. Also, retail organizations are more and more demanding on this: for producers of their private labels, they have developed standards which need to be fulfilled by their suppliers before they are allowed to supply private label products. In this way compliance with legal obligations and sometimes more than the legal obligations becomes a contractual obligation as well (Van der Meulen 2011). Appropriate hygiene must be applied as necessary during all stages preceding the consumption of food to ensure that it is safe. It is apparent that this, and improved public awareness of it, are fundamental to the maintenance of consumer confidence. It also aids business profitability by reducing losses.

There must be an adequately equipped and controlled environment and appropriate hygiene procedures for the production, handling, storage, distribution and supply of food ingredients, packaging materials and foods. This may be based on detailed prescriptive controls providing a rigid guarantee of safe working, or a more flexible management system based on the control of objectively assessed risk, or a combination of these. In each case, implementation must be under the control of food business operators, who are responsible for ensuring that the products they supply are safe. A regulatory regime with effective enforcement is also necessary to deal with residual errors, failures and especially abuses.

This chapter discusses the nature and application of this regime in the EU. It covers the structure of the control system before examining the EU legal requirements. There is legislation generally applicable to retailing and catering for all foods, and to the whole supply chain for many foods. Although there are specific requirements applicable only to the production of foods of animal origin on an industrial scale, smaller businesses also have to comply with rules and controls. The chapter then considers future trends before providing a short list of sources of further information.

1.2 History of hygiene regulation in the European Union (EU)

In the 1960s legislation in the EU (at that time known as the European Economic Community, EEC) was mostly targeted to prevent outbreaks of animal diseases, such as bovine tuberculosis and foot-and-mouth disease. In the meantime there was also an international evolution: in 1963, the Codex Alimentarius was set up. This was done jointly by United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization. The aim of this was to protect consumers’ health and to ensure fair practices in the international trade of food by developing common food safety standards. To this day, Codex Alimentarius is the reference for food safety systems and standards.

During this time, there has also been more industrialization of the food chain where food has become more centrally prepared and pre-packed. As such, the time between preparing and consuming of food has increased so that unwanted bacteria (spoilage) and other harmful organisms (pathogens) can potentially develop.

The first EU food hygiene rules, developed in 1964, were limited to requirements for fresh meat. Over the decades, this has expanded to other food from animal origin.

In the 1990s, a set of directives on food hygiene were published which was required to be translated into member states’ national legislation. The base of this was The General Food Hygiene Directive (93/43/EEC) (EC 1993).

An important milestone in European food legislation was the publication of the Commission’s White Paper on Food Safety in 2000 (EC 2000). In this paper, the approach for a reform of EU food legislation was developed. The main principles were defined:

• The rules should apply ‘from farm to fork’, which has as the result that every single step in the food production chain was covered by EU food safety legislation.

• Each food operator is responsible for the food safety of every food, imported, produced, processed or placed on the market. The member states and their competent authorities are in charge of verifying the correct application of the European legislation on food safety and its implementation. The philosophy is not to place hazardous products on the market and intervene when it is considered that a non-compliant product has been placed on the market.

• The products are to be traceable at every stage of the food chain.

• Legislation needs to be based on risk analysis, where the precautionary principle will be applied.

This White Paper resulted in the current European food safety legislation.

1.3 Key elements of hygiene regulation in the EU

1.3.1 Directives versus regulations

In the past, European food legislation was mostly defined in directives. The nature of EU directives is that they address member states and have to be implemented through national legislation. Each member state must introduce its own measures to implement each directive within a specified period to achieve the objectives agreed and set out in the directive.

Since the publication of the White Paper, the choice has been made to define EU food legislation in regulations which apply automatically. This has had the result that the lines are more clear and uniform over the different countries. Nevertheless, within the limits set by the regulations it is still possible for individual countries to define national legislation.

1.3.2 Horizontal versus vertical control measures

The European food legislation consists of horizontal and vertical measures: horizontal legislation is generally applicable to all food business operators, and vertical legislation is applicable for specific sectors/products.

1.3.3 Structure of the hygiene regulation

The basis of hygiene regulation and other food law is laid down in the General Food Law (Regulation (EC) 178/2002 ‘GFL’; EC 2002). In Article 14 GFL it is defined that ‘Food shall not be placed on the market when it is unsafe’. Based on this, a so-called hygiene package has been developed. The three most important regulations in this package (sometimes referred to as H1/H2/H3) are:

• Regulation (EC) 852/2004 (EC 2004a) on the hygiene of foodstuffs

• Regul...

Table of contents

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Copyright
• Contributor contact details
• Woodhead Publishing Series in Food Science, Technology and Nutrition
• Introduction
• Part I: Microbial food safety risks and hygiene regulation
• Part II: Hygienic design of food factory infrastructure
• Part III: Hygiene practices in food processing
• Index