Design & Management Of Food Plant Premises - Part II

I assumed, you have read part I of this. If not, you must read it first (Design & Management Of Food Plant Premises - Part I) Then, I gave you rest parts of the preliminary requirements of kitchen designing as follows.

Targeted Building

The internal design and layout of building should permit good food hygiene practices, including protection against cross contamination between and during operations by foodstuffs. Structures within that building should be soundly built of durable materials and be easy to maintain, clean and where appropriate, able to be disinfected. It should be prevented entry of insects, birds and other pests. Selected building must be separated from living quarters.

Floor

Floors should be constructed to allow adequate drainage and cleaning. It must be hard surfaced , non absorbent, devoid of crevices, sloped evenly and adequately. Selected building floor must be resistant to allow easy cleaning and disinfection. Working surfaces that come into direct contact with food should be in sound condition, durable and easy to clean, maintain and disinfection. They also should be made of smooth, non absorbent materials, and inert to the food, to detergents and disinfectants under normal operating conditions.

Drains

Drainage system must be sufficient in sized, fitted with traps, resistant and smooth.

Walls

Internal walls must smooth, water proof, light colored, resistant  to fractures and readily cleanable wall to wall.  Wall to floor junctions must be rounded to facilitate cleaning and free from projections. Walls and partitions should be made of resistant materials with no toxic effect in intended use . Walls should have a smooth surface up to a height appropriate to the operations. 

 Windows

Windows should be easy to clean, be constructed to minimize the buildup of dirt and where necessary, be fitted with removable and cleanable insect proof screens. Where necessary, windows should be fixed. Window sills kept at minimum size, sloped towards processing area closed with glass panes  or screened with suitable mesh if kept open.

Doors

Doors should have smooth, non absorbent surfaces, and be easy to clean and, where necessary, disinfect. It must be sufficiently wide, constructed of suitable material and  self closing as far as possible. Door must sheeted or made with non corrodible metal with smooth surface.

Ceiling

Ceilings and overhead fixtures should be constructed and finished to minimize the buildup of dirt and condensation, and the shedding of particles. These must be prevent accumulation of dirt, minimize condensation and mould development, 3 m in height and  without cracks. There must be less amount of exposed beams and pipes.

 Lighting

Safety type bulbs or tubes must be used. It should be  protected to prevent food contamination in case of breakage. There must be maintained sufficient lighten level in processing areas and other areas according to standards.

Ventilation

Ventilation must be there in well manner to prevent excessive heat, condensation and contamination with obnoxious odours , dust, vapour, etc. Employees must be saved from stress environment to work in normal conditions.

Design & Management Of Food Plant Premises - Part I

Hi, I thought, you are in sense about food safety now, how it manage? What are the reasons for food poisoning? Are they severe to us?.....There are a lot of senses merge with those. If you could not sense yet these, go and read How To Save Our Lives By Food Safety. So you know, food hygiene is also most important factor with that. It should be planned and never  occur automatically. That planning process would begin before the building plan is drawn for the constructions. It may be food factory, shop, hotel, restaurant or a house kitchen. That planned hygiene process has economical  value. The basic design features of the plan which should be drawn to easily accessible for clean of premise and equipments' surfaces without angles or edges. These installation process   should be organized according to standard procedure.

There was an American scientist called "W.E.Deming". He had explained about a model of control cycle for any organizing process such as, design and management of premises. It is PDCA cycle. P mean PLAN, D means DO , C means CHECK and A means ACT. You can use that model for here to design your premises. 

There should be the hard surfaces for all used areas of outside the premises. As well as, dust free and properly drained surfaces are the requirements. They may be walking ways, parking areas and store areas, etc. Unused areas or rooms have identified with plans, never used for dumping unnecessary garbage. As I said earlier, there is a standard procedure to follow when design and management of food plant premises. Most of people are complying with those around the world. They are also following these before them become stars. But, now they are popular standard food companies around the consumers. You never forget, consumers are the your best profit. And you always plan according to customer satisfactions and delightful requirements. Here, I'm trying to explain those features of the standard procedure one by one in simply way, easy to understand all of you. Design of kitchen or premise is consisting of standards requirements as follows. These specific conditions should be satisfied where necessary to protect the safety and suitability of food.

Surrounding Area 
Site boundaries to be clearly defined, fenced and secured if considered appropriate, free of potential harborage for pests and adequately drained. There must be reasonably clean, free from odours, smoke, dust or other contaminants. Potential sources of contamination need to be considered when deciding where to locate food establishments, as well as the effectiveness of any reasonable measures that might be taken to protect food. Buildings should not be located anywhere, after considering such protective measures, it is clear that there will remain a threat to food safety or suitability. It should normally be located away from environmentally polluted areas and industrial activities which pose a serious threat of contaminating foods, areas subject to flooding unless sufficient safeguards are provided, areas prone to infestations of pests, and areas where wastes, either solid or liquid, cannot be removed effectively. Continue........Design & Management Of Food Plant Premises - Part II

How To Save Our Lives By Food Safety

Hi, I promised to bring you more in there. That is why, I'm here with new things, which are most important to you. While we are talking about best practices in the kitchen, never forget about safety of foods, which are cooking in safely. Safety……?  What is that..? It is the food safety. Yes… You know that about food safety. But, you do not know in deeply. Many definitions are there according to Quality Gurus. Food safety is assurance that food will not cause harm to the consumer when it is prepared and eaten according to its intended use. As well as, It is known as a system of handling , preparing , cooking and storing food that prevents it becoming contaminated or spoiled.

In here food means, any substance or product, whether processed, partially processed or unprocessed , that is intended to be , or reasonably expected to be , ingested by humans. It includes liquids, juices, fresh fruits, food stuffs, ice creams, and any consumable diet. etc,  including water also.

As a food handlers , you should be fit with ideas of food safety practices.As I mentioned, my early post Best Practices For Food Safety In The Kitchen (Read if you not there ) However, food born hazards are the major role in here. We can group as, Biological ,Chemical and Physical hazards. Hazard is  a potential source of danger, something that could cause harm.

Biological

Bacteria, Protozoa, Parasites, Viruses, Fungi and their toxins introduced during food handling are the main sources  for biological hazards. These hazards cause for food poisonings.

Chemical

Silver residues, Pesticides, and Veterinary drugs  are the main sources in chemical hazards. These hazards can be cause to food borne illnesses or food poisoning, which are coming via foods.

Physical

    Metal residues, nails, hair and other physical matters, which cause for illnesses of human. 

There are two main reasons for the considering of food safety.

1. The most important reason is that people should not be made ill by the food they eat. Good food safety practices, backed  up by law, give them the protection they deserve.

1. The 2^nd reason is that providing customers with quality food keeps them coming back , and that is good for business.

Food illness is also kind of food poisoning. Food poisoning is the illness caused by eating contaminated food. Bacteria is the most related term regarding food safety. It is single celled microorganisms, which can cause diseases. They are calling as "Germs" also, which cause illness.

      

       There are groups of people at high risk of getting a  food borne illness. 

• Infants

• Pregnant women

• Young children & Older adults

•  Persons with chronic diseases

There are five  “ Key recommendations ” for food safety. These should be used and maintained always to prevent illnesses and protect our lives by food safety.

• CLEAN - Wash hands and surfaces often

• SEPARATE - Do not cross contamination

• COOK - Cook to proper temperatures

• CHILL - Refrigerate promptly

• AVOID -  Raw (unpasteurized) milk or milk products, Raw or partially cooked eggs and foods containing raw eggs , Raw and undercooked meat and poultry, Unpasteurized juices,etc.