Factory design that meets HACCP standards is a top concern for many businesses in the food production and processing industry. So, what are the specific requirements for designing and constructing a factory according to these standards? How can we ensure that the infrastructure, production line layout, ventilation system, and machinery fully meet the stringent requirements of HACCP?
This is a significant challenge for many businesses, as ensuring food safety doesn't just stop at the production process but also heavily relies on the factory design. Understanding this, BIC would like to share detailed conditions and optimal solutions to help businesses build HACCP-compliant factories effectively. Let's follow along in the article below!
HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) is a preventative food safety management system that helps identify and control potential hazards and ensure product quality throughout the production, processing, and distribution process. This is an international standard, widely applied in the food, beverage, and supply chain industries, including both existing and new products on the market.
HACCP was first introduced by the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CODEX) in 1969 and has undergone several updates, most notably in 1991 and 1998. This system establishes important principles to enhance food safety, helping businesses control risks and meet the strict requirements in food and seafood production and processing.
HACCP standard compliant factories play a crucial role in ensuring food safety and product quality. This standard is particularly essential for the following industries:
- Production and trading of food, seafood, and animal feed: Ensuring food hygiene and safety from cultivation and processing to preservation and distribution.
- Food processing, export processing zones, and industrial food: Strictly controlling factors that may cause contamination in the production process.
- Food service, restaurants, and hotels: Meeting food safety and hygiene standards, protecting consumer health.
- Organizations related to food: Including supermarkets, industrial meal providers, collective kitchens, etc.
HACCP plays a vital role in ensuring safe output products, meeting the stringent requirements of the food and pharmaceutical industries. Applying the HACCP standard helps to:
- Prevent food safety risks, minimizing the risk of contamination by bacteria and hazardous chemicals.
- Comply with legal regulations, making it easier for businesses to obtain international food safety certifications.
- Build trust with customers, enhance brand reputation, and expand business opportunities.
Scope of HACCP Standard Compliant Factories
The design of HACCP standard compliant factories has a broad scope of application, managing food quality throughout the entire supply chain, from:
- Input materials: Controlling the origin and quality of raw materials.
- Processing procedures: Ensuring food safety in each stage of production.
- Storage and preservation: Controlling temperature and humidity, avoiding cross-contamination.
- Distribution and consumption: Ensuring products meet safety standards before reaching consumers.
Building factories according to HACCP standards not only helps businesses comply with legal regulations but also enhances brand reputation and expands export opportunities.
Choosing a suitable location for building a factory according to HACCP standards is a crucial factor that directly affects product quality and production efficiency. Businesses need to consider the following criteria to ensure food safety and minimize the risk of contamination:
- Densely populated residential areas or places with living activities that cause pollution.
- Industrial zones with emissions, dust, or hazardous chemicals.
- Areas prone to flooding, stagnant ponds, or standing water that affect the production environment.
- Areas with liquid or solid waste that cannot be thoroughly treated, posing a risk of contamination to food products.
- Internal road system: Ensure cleanliness, with a good, closed drainage system to avoid environmental pollution.
- Utility infrastructure: Ensure a stable supply of clean water, safe power grid, and convenient transportation for the transport of raw materials and goods.
Choosing a standard-compliant location not only helps businesses meet HACCP requirements but also creates favorable conditions for production, storage, and distribution of products, enhancing business efficiency.
Factory design and arranging its space according to HACCP standards is crucial for ensuring food safety, preventing cross-contamination, and optimizing the production process. The following requirements must be adhered to:
- Layout Principles: The production process must be arranged in a one-way flow, from raw materials to finished products, avoiding any overlap between stages. This layout helps minimize the risk of contamination and ensures hygienic conditions throughout the processing.
- Clear Zoning to Prevent Cross-Contamination: The factory should be divided into separate zones, including production and non-production areas. The main zones include: raw material receiving, preliminary processing, processing, packaging, storage, sanitary areas, changing rooms, and a cafeteria. This separation minimizes cross-contamination between raw materials and finished products, ensuring food safety.
- Standard-Compliant Food Storage: The warehouse design must be suitable for each type of food, ensuring stable temperature and humidity to maintain product quality. The warehouse must have a sealed system to prevent insects and pests. In addition, separate storage areas are needed for raw materials, finished products, and additives to avoid cross-contamination.
Strict adherence to HACCP standards not only helps businesses ensure product quality and meet food safety regulations, but also creates a competitive advantage in the market, enhances reputation, and expands business opportunities.
Factory design with HACCP-compliant structures must ensure food safety and hygiene, prevent contamination, and facilitate the production process. The specific requirements are as follows:
- Should be arranged logically for convenient production and cleaning.
- Ensure adequate space for easy implementation of disinfection and maintenance measures.
- Light-colored, made of waterproof, non-cracking materials, resistant to mold, condensation, and dust accumulation.
- Waterproof, non-slip, easy to clean and disinfect.
- Free from toxic substances that could affect food.
- With appropriate slope for good drainage, preventing water accumulation.
- Flat, light-colored surface, easy to clean.
- Rounded wall corners to prevent the accumulation of dust and bacteria.
- Waterproof, non-polluting, ensuring food safety and hygiene.
- Smooth, waterproof surface.
- Preference for automatic doors, ensuring tightness to prevent contamination.
- Food canning facilities should have disinfectant foot baths for soaking boots before entering and exiting.
- Designed to minimize dust accumulation and be easy to clean.
- Equipped with protective screens against insects and animals, ensuring hygiene and safety.
- Protective screens should be easily removable for cleaning.
- Durable, smooth, waterproof material that does not leach toxic substances into food.
- Resistant to detergents and disinfectants, and not corroded under normal usage conditions.
- Designed appropriately for the specific production process, minimizing the risk of food contamination.
- Proper airflow direction, not blowing from dirty areas to clean areas.
- Equipped with protective screens made of rust-resistant material, easily removable for cleaning.
- Provide sufficient lighting (≥ 200 lux) to ensure accurate operation.
- Light sources must be safely shielded to prevent breakage and contamination of food.
- Made of durable, sealed material with lids to prevent access by animals and insects.
- Clearly labeled for proper segregation to avoid confusion and ensure no food contamination.
- For hazardous waste, specialized, lockable containers are required to ensure safety.
Compliance with the above requirements helps the factory ensure hygiene, food safety, optimize the production process, and meet HACCP standards.
- The water supply system must be adequate, with facilities for storage, distribution, and temperature control, ensuring safety for food production.
- Water used in food processing must be clean, free from pollutants, and meet the hygiene standards for drinking and domestic water as regulated by the Ministry of Health.
- Production facilities require a clean water source with stable pressure to meet cleaning and processing needs. Water storage equipment must be appropriately designed to ensure hygiene.
- If recycled water is used, it must be treated and strictly controlled to ensure safety and prevent food contamination.
Compressed air, ice, and steam supply systems in the factory must be clean, safe, and prevent food contamination, meeting food hygiene standards. This is a mandatory requirement for businesses implementing HACCP.
- Treat wastewater according to standards, preventing environmental pollution.
- Waste collection areas should be separate and not affect the production process.
- Waste disposal doors should be designed separately, ensuring food safety and hygiene.
- Protective Clothing Changing Rooms: Should be designed separately, convenient for employees to change clothes before their shift. The space needs to be hygienic and provide sufficient personal lockers.
- Restrooms: Should be arranged logically, averaging 25 people per restroom. Have a full system of lighting, ventilation, and drainage that meets standards. The restroom area must be completely isolated from the production area, and the door should not open directly into the food processing area.
- General Requirements:
Made from safe materials that do not contaminate food.
Durable, easy to clean, move, and disinfect.
- Hand Washing and Disinfection Facilities:
Located in convenient locations within the production area.
Provide sufficient clean water, soap, towels/hand dryers.
An average of 50 workers per handwashing sink, with a minimum of 1 sink/sanitizer per workshop.
- Disinfectant Solution:
Only use detergents licensed by the Ministry of Health.
- Quality Monitoring Equipment:
Ensure food quickly reaches the required temperature during heating, cooling, heat treatment, storage, or freezing processes.
- Processing, Packaging, Storage, and Transportation Equipment:
Corrosion-resistant material that does not affect the taste of food.
Does not leach chemicals into food.
The use of packaging that poses a risk of poisoning or affects food quality is prohibited.
Fact according to HACCP standards not only ensures food safety and prevents contamination but also optimizes production processes and enhances business reputation. Compliance with these standards helps businesses meet legal requirements, minimize risks, and create a competitive advantage in the market. Contact BIC for consulting on industrial factory design and construction.
