S04 - Verification of Sanitary Design of Food Equipment

Glen 201–202
Organizers: Ron Schmidt and Philip Wolff
Convenors: Ron Schmidt and Philip Wolff

8:30 United States Third Party Standards and Auditing Programs — F. TRACY SCHONROCK, 3-A Steering Committee Chair, Fairfax Station, VA, USA

9:00 European Third Party Standards and Auditing Programs — JOHN HOLAH, Campden & Chorleywood Food Research Association, Gloucestershire, UK

9:30 FDA Standards and Auditing Programs — STEVEN SIMS, US-FDA-Milk Safety Branch, College Park, MD, USA

10:00 Break

10:30 USDA Standards and Auditing Programs — PHILIP
WOLFF, USDA-AMS-Dairy Grading Branch,
Washington, D.C., USA

11:00 Role of Equipment Desing in HACCP Programs — PAT JOHNSON, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Guelph, ON, Canada

11:30 Panel Discussion

Abstract
In the United States and throughout the world, many food equipment standards and related organizations are directly or indirectly involved with the sanitary design, construction, fabrication, and cleanability of food equipment.  These include:  3-A Sanitary Standards, Inc. (3-A SSI), the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF), European Hygienic Equipment Design Group (EHEDG), Underwriters Laboratories (UL), and others.  Standards for specific equipment have also been written and recommended by commodity trade associations.  In addition, federal regulatory agencies (e.g., Food and Drug Administration (FDA), US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), European Union, and others) have established requirements for hygienic and sanitary design of food equipment.  Under the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) system, it may be required or recommended that sanitation standard operating procedures (SSOPs) be in place that address the sanitary construction, design, maintenance, and condition of food contact surfaces and equipment.  Auditing or verification that the equipment is, in fact, constructed and designed to meet specific and appropriate standards is an important element of equipment sanitary design. There is, however, some variation in regard to the specific requirements of equipment auditing programs.  This symposium is intended to provide an overview of auditing programs for equipment construction and design, standard operating procedures, and related topics, and provide a forum for discussion of consistency and differences among these programs across all food processing and food handling entities.  Information gained by IAFP attendees may stimulate and encourage more food equipment standards development and more uniformity in regard to these standards.