Clean-In-Place — An Industry Priority For Food Safety
By Laurel Maloy, contributing writer, Food Online
Currently, meat and poultry processing plants are not directly affected by FSMA. However, reassessing Clean-In-Place needs during plant design or renovation will avoid costly retrofitting later is never a bad idea regarding food safety
Meat and poultry processors are not directly affected by the impending Food Safety Modernization Act’s (FSMA) requirements on Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HAACP) documentation. They have, however, been subject to (HAACP) for the last 20 years. As focus on food safety is increasing, so should the expectations from the Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) and HACCP in all areas of food processing, handling, storage, and transportation. Additionally, reconsidering the design of sanitary systems — Clean-In-Place (CIP) and Open-Plant Cleaning (OPC) — within meat and poultry production facilities might also be a good idea.
At its most basic, CIP involves the process of pressure-washing or spray cleaning processing equipment, pipelines, and any vessels or surfaces associated with processing in a production facility. In some instances, such as in the dry cereal industry, the same technology is applied to OPC. Dual systems are also available, combining a CIP system with a steam-in-place (SIP) system to sterilize equipment following the CIP process.
Tim Bowser, Ph.D. and a food process engineer at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, OK says that many food processing plants in operation today have drainage issues due to the way they were originally constructed. He goes on to say that, “We need to re-think the paradigm of where to locate cleaning processes. It’s a huge physical issue because of the way the drainage circulates as a result.” And in speaking about the challenges in implementing improved CIP, he adds, there’s a need to “reduce the cost of installations, especially the costs of operation and cycle time, material-handling issues, and improve environmental impact.” Due diligence performed on the part of plant owners undergoing considerable renovation or constructing new plants could be a life saver. At the least, reevaluating current CIP and OPC systems when they are easiest to upgrade will save money over a future retrofit.
New technologies, materials, valves, and chemicals have been created in recent years; designed to use with existing or new CIP or OPC systems in order to improve food safety. There are variable-speed drives for better pump control, new sensors for CIP verification, and easier to clean and maintain valves. Antimicrobial and hydrophobic (anti-stick) qualities have been added to surfaces, while coatings and finishes are smoother, all to make parts easier and faster to clean. Newly formulated chemicals are more effective on soils, as well as being safer to use. Installations have even become faster and cleaner with better welding and finishing equipment.
According to Dale Seiberling, a self-proclaimed CIP evangelist, a former Ohio State University dairy technology instructor, and a food industry speaker, “The application of CIP technology is dependent on the processors’ need and/or desire to clean a processing system to the highest degree achievable by the combination of mechanical action and flow of chemical solutions.”
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