Large-volume automation in the meat processing industry brings a higher risk of foreign material contamination. Foreign material can include metal shavings and shards from grinders, mixers and dicers, wood and nails from pallets, and numerous other materials like plastics and glass.
The following are equipment options and proper maintenance practices that can help mitigate foreign material risk in food handling transfer areas:
Apache routinely conducts tests for customers and in-house studies on the benefits of electropolished surfaces on food contact surfaces.
Highlighted above, is a study that compares high-end finishes under 200X magnification:
It shows the RA (Roughness average) reading in four finish examples of 304 stainless steel. In the study, the electropolished finish is more than six times smoother that the bead blasted finish.
What makes this study significant is that food processors can leverage electropolished surfaces to increase food safety performance. Our customer’s who choose electropolished food contact surfaces tell us that food safety is significantly enhanced, and sanitation efficiencies are realized in time savings and water usage.
We've developed an interactive PDF that includes industry news and best practices, paired with Mepaco's solutions and videos to help processors solve food safety challenges.
Discover:
If you would like to learn more about food safety and sanitation equipment innovations trending in food processing equipment and systems, we are offering a Lunch & Learn presentation.
Our focus will be to customize this presentation to talk about your production needs, and safety and sanitation goals. We will monitor COVID-19 travel and distancing regulations and if allowed, we can have the Lunch & Learn at Apache Stainless or at your facility. Just let us know and we will take care of lunch. We will also offer a virtual meeting if that works best, and we will send attendees a gift card for lunch on us! We look forward to hearing from you! Contact a technical sales manager to schedule!
An equipment safety and sanitation audit can provide direction for implementing improvement procedures and specifying equipment updates that mitigate risk and solve for safety and production goals. Here’s an excerpt from our audit checklist:
Every food processor has their own unique food safety challenges. Here is one process room scenario where attention to process layout, equipment modifications and training can significantly reduce foreign material contamination.
Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.
Your browser does not support iframes.