Hygienic design - EHEDG

What is EHEDG?

Goudsmit Magnetic Systems is member of the European Hygienic Engineering & Design Group (EHEDG). EHEDG is a consortium of equipment manufacturers, food industries, research institutes and public health authorities and was founded in 1989 with the important aim of promoting hygiene during the processing and packing of food products and chemicals.

Compliance with the criteria, standards and guidelines they have established lead to improvement of hygienic engineering. Test methods they have developed determine whether a device has truly been designed properly.
In the interest of improving hygienic engineering, EHEDG has established a number of criteria and developed standards and directives that must be adhered to. EHEDG actively supports the European legislation, which requires that handling, preparation, processing and packaging of food be performed hygienically using hygienic machines and in hygienic areas.

Goudsmit bases its designs for food products and chemicals on these EHEDG standards and is the very first magnet supplier to join EHEDG.

Key focus areas of the EHEDG are:

• prevention of growth of contaminants (harmful micro-organisms);
• cleanability and disinfection;
• material use;
• surface finish and geometry;
• testing of the designs for cleaning, sterilization and microbial impermeability.

Only companies that meet the established standards are eligible for the EHEDG certificate.

Directives and standards for hygienic design

To begin with, all machines must comply with the requirements of Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC.

Then there are additional standards that must be met for hygienic designs, of which the following two are the most important:

1. NEN-EN-ISO 14159: Hygiene Requirements for the Design of Machinery
2. NEN-EN 1672-2 Food Processing Machinery - Basic Concepts - Part 2: Hygiene Requirements

Process requirements

In addition to the standards for production/process equipment there are specific production-related standards for producers of food products, such as:

1. ISO 22000 (Food safety management systems - Requirements for any organization in the food chain)
2. HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points)
3. GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice)

Magnetic filters / separators can play an important role in the prevention of contamination (harmful micro-organisms).