AIOE Guidance Document on hygiene

The guidance document establishes a
framework, including risk assessment, to determine equipment
design for wet- and dry-clean environments.

The equipment used for primary packaging is a potential area of
pathogen growth in low-moisture food production environments,
notes Stephen Perry, Ph.D., co-managing director, AIOE.

"Consumer goods companies (CPGs) and original equipment
manufacturers (OEMs) are committed to machinery that is easy to
clean, sanitize, and return to operation with minimal downtime,"
Perry says. "One Voice fosters discussion and data gathering that
leads to informed purchase decisions."

The central feature of the approach is its joint collaboration
process (JCP), he says. To reach a consensus on design criteria,
JCP starts with a risk assessment to discern possible sources of
biological, physical, and chemical contamination, investigating
hygienic zone information and examining existing standards and
checklists.

"The risk assessment process is proven to help arrive at
decisions on multiple processes, and by integrating it with the
rest of the data, we can arrive at 'must-have' criteria that we
apply to several existing hygienic design guidelines," says Fred
Hayes, director, Technical Services, PMMI, a global expert in
risk assessment.

The CPG can still select a more rigorous OEM design, Perry notes.
However, the One Voice process lays out base level criteria,
saving time and investment throughout the purchase discussions
and decisions.

"The process enables an operations team to explain the assessment
that led to their design choices," Perry adds.

AIOE brings together CPG production and engineering professionals
with subject matter experts to address issues of common concern.
This is just one of many AIOE projects, and more information--
including webinars by participating CPG professionals, the One
Voice document, and the joint collaboration approach--is
available online at www.pmmi.org/aioe.

AIOE would like to thank the Project Team from AIOE's Engineering
Solutions Group project team who worked on One Voice for Hygienic
Equipment Design for Low-Moisture Foods: Glen Long, ADCO
Manufacturing; Stephen Perry and Stephen Schlegel, AIOE; Jeffrey
Barach, Barach Enterprises, LLC; Randy Cotton and Eric Ney, Big
Heart Pet Brands; Steve Blackowiak, Buhler Group; Matt Swanson,
Campbell Soup; Joe Shebuski, Cargill; Trisha Araujo, ConAgra
Foods; John Spengler, GE; Gary Moore, Hillshire Brands; James
Mino, Hormel; Mike Scouten, Hosokawa Bepex; Bob Risley, Intralox;
David Drum, Kellogg; Bill Sutton, Kollmorgen; Robert Hagberg,
Land O' Lakes; Shane Guimbellot and David Heutmaker, MOM Brands;
Jessica Evans, NSF; Tom Egan and Fred Hayes, PMMI; John Keenan,
Post Foods; Jim Halliday, PTL; Lee DeBeau, formerly Schwans Foods;
and Madinah Allen, Snyder's-Lance.