In March 2024, Anuga FoodTec will show how hygienic design and innovative technologies can contribute towards efficient cleaning and thus towards safer food. Process hygiene is one of the most important themes at Anuga FoodTec 2024. The linchpin of process hygiene is hygienic design, in other words the easy-to-clean design of parts and production systems. Food and beverage producers, who want to guarantee that their plant is the best from an "easy-to-clean" point of view, will be able to find a multitude of solutions at the Cologne fair grounds - ranging from process instrumentation, to conveyor systems in washdown execution, through to fully-automatic CIP systems. The events and congresses scheduled to take place at the fair grounds in Cologne from 19 to 22 March 2024 will also convey related know-how.
The easy-to-clean design of parts and components is a key requirement in the hygiene-critical environment of food production. The theme in itself is nothing new. For almost 35 years the European machinery directive has demanded that a system is constructed in such a way that the materials that come into contact with food can be cleaned before every usage. This is primarily down to the machine builders and their technology partners, because whether it is a question of a pump, valve or flow meter: Changes to built-in components or the machinery itself are hardly possible at a later date and, if so, involve high costs.
As such, hygienic design is at the top of the agenda for the companies exhibiting at Anuga FoodTec - but not only because it is a legal obligation. Namely, the cleanability has a major influence on the process safety. Even the slightest contaminations in the production and filling processes can lead to quality reductions or product recalls. The material itself is an important aspect of hygienic design. Process plants made of stainless steel dominate the scene in the food industry today. High-alloy steel with a roughness lower than 0.8 micrometres is considered to be the ideal hygienic material, but does not guarantee easy cleanability on its own. Manufacturing an "old design" from stainless steel doesn't help.