Food Safety & Equipment Sanitation

Anyone in the food manufacturing industry has an enormous responsibility to those who consume their products. Consumers have to be confident that the food they are eating at an event or restaurant will be safe.  It’s up to food manufacturers and packagers to adhere to the most stringent food safety standards in all of their operations to protect their customers and their businesses. More than 48 million people get sick from foodborne illnesses each year. Although many of those cases are the result of improper food storage or preparation, a lot of them can be traced to insufficient food safety procedures at a food manufacturing or processing facility.

For the health and safety of consumers, it’s essential that food manufacturers and preparers always follow the proper safety and hygiene procedures in every aspect of their operations. Not only can this help prevent the public from being exposed to foodborne illnesses, but it can help prevent penalties and fines from regulators. Whether improper food safety procedures lead to fines, an outbreak of illness or both, the results can be disastrous and could lead to serious consequences from a business standpoint.

With that in mind, one of the most important areas for food manufacturers in terms of overall food safety is cleaning the equipment. Food manufacturing facility managers already know that their equipment must be sterilized at the end of each day’s work. However, cleaning and sterilizing food manufacturing equipment is more involved than washing; it’s a process that requires strict adherence to a meticulous procedure. Given how detailed the process is and how hectic operations can be at food manufacturing facilities, it can be easy at times for steps in the cleaning process to be overlooked. When it comes to maintaining the consumer’s trust in a food manufacturer, however, there is no margin for error.

The following checklist, created by Meyer Industrial Solutions, details all of the necessary steps food manufacturers must take when sanitizing their equipment each day. By keeping this checklist where it can be seen easily and referenced by employees, food manufacturers can significantly reduce the risk that their equipment may be compromised. Consumers trust food manufacturers to have their safety in mind at all times, and maintaining that trust is the most important thing a food manufacturer can do.