Sanitation is critical to food safety, but it can be a daunting task in bakeries where teams are running as continuously as possible to fulfill orders. 

“In most of the bakeries I’ve been in, the equipment has been 25 years or older, and during the busy seasons, the run times are longer,” said Korrin Doyle, food safety and sanitation director, Southeast region, ABM Industries. “During the summer, they don’t shut down as often, and there might be some areas of equipment that might be missed during sanitation because of the equipment design.” 

Bakeries need to be able to clean equipment effectively but quickly to get production back up and running, especially during busy seasons around holidays. Well-designed equipment makes cleaning easier. 

“Equipment design for in-place cleaning is ideal as it enables staff to work swiftly and efficiently without the need to relocate or reassemble equipment post-cleaning,” said Will Eaton, vice president of sales and marketing, Meritech. “In the current labor climate, marked by frequent staff shortages, having equipment with a sanitary design is crucial, as operating at full capacity may not be a common occurrence.” 

Sanitary design, data and other technology can help make sanitation easier and more effective, leading to a safer food system. 

Cleaning is necessary, but it often gets pushed to the side because it takes away from precious production time. Sanitation teams, which are sometimes dealing with staffing issues, have to make the most of the time that they’re given. 

“Sanitation labor hours are typically looked at or budgeted as indirect labor hours,” said Jesse Leal, food safety professional, AIB International. “Sanitation is critical for the quality and safety of food being produced, but the only time to clean is when the plant is down and not producing. So maximizing this precious time is critical as the plant wants to be down as little as possible.”  

A challenge, however, is that bakery equipment has incredible longevity, and machines that are decades old can be difficult to disassemble and clean and have areas that harbor dirt, dust, flour, glaze and more. This can make sanitation a laborious task, one that isn’t efficient and can sometimes result in damage to the equipment. 

“Hygienically designed equipment contributes to product quality by minimizing niches where spoilage microorganisms, such as mold, can thrive,” said Wan Mei Leong, food safety specialist, Commercial Food Sanitation, an Intralox company. “While legacy equipment remains common in bakery facilities, it presents challenges for sanitation due to its numerous niches and design flaws. In contrast, newer facilities increasingly prioritize hygienically designed equipment, recognizing its return on investment and benefiting from improved designs compared to decades ago.” 

Newer equipment designed with sanitation in mind aims to make this process easier and more efficient. 

“When equipment can be effectively and efficiently cleaned in place, it takes less time, fewer chemicals and less labor to accomplish the task,” said Jon Anderson, managing consultant for the Bakery Equipment Assessment Group (BEAG). “When disassembly is required, efficient design will require less downtime for equipment breakdown, cleaning and reassembly. Efficient hygienic design reduces the complexity of cleaning and increases the opportunities for eliminating potential for product safety issues and quality challenges. When equipment can be easily taken apart for deep cleaning and easily reassembled, labor costs go down and time available for production goes up.”

Randy Kohal, vice president of food safety and reliability at Nexcor Food Safety Technologies, presented a belt lift on a conveyor as a good example of how hygienic design can speed sanitation along. 

“With sanitary equipment design the belt and framework can be cleaned without complete removal of the belt from the conveyor,” he explained. “For periodic equipment cleaning that involves deep cleaning, the belt can be easily removed along with the rollers.” 

Equipment that’s easier to clean provides some relief in a tight labor market. 

“When equipment takes less labor to clean, less work is involved and fewer employees can clean more efficiently and clean more equipment in the time allocated for downtime,” Anderson said. “I have had the opportunity to visit several bakeries over the course of a year, and each tells me the same thing: positions are difficult to fill and keep filled. The labor market for sanitation employees is no different. There are many hard-working employees in the sanitation and food safety departments, but when we can do more with fewer employees, these advantages quickly show an ROI we make by using equipment with sound design that conforms to a hygienic equipment design standard.” 

When considering the ROI on sanitary design, Leong recommended considering the total cost of ownership. 

“This encompasses not only the initial investment cost but also ongoing operational expenses throughout the asset’s expected lifespan,” she explained. “These operational costs include labor for routine sanitation and maintenance, chemical and water usage for cleaning, and operation downtime due to maintenance, cleaning and inspection.” 

This article is an excerpt from the July 2024 issue of Baking & Snack. To read the entire feature on Food Safety & Sanitation, click here.