Raising the Bar with Hygienic Design: 3A and Showcasing our Next Generation Remco and Vikan Tools
June 01 10:03:02, 2025
Certainly! Here's a rewritten version of the provided content in English:
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Recently, investing in "hygienically designed" facilities, equipment, or even an itemized inventory has transitioned from being merely a buzzword to becoming a necessity in the food and beverage industries. Having surfaces that are easy to clean, inspect, and access has become a hallmark of ensuring the sanitary production of safe food by preventing or significantly reducing key environmental hazards like pathogens, allergens, and harmful contaminants from infiltrating food products.
Of course, design plays an integral role in the material specifications that are critical to maintaining environmental and food safety. Last month, Remco attended the 3-A SSI’s 2021 Virtual Conference, where regulatory sanitarians, equipment manufacturers, food industry processors, academics, and professionals collectively discussed the "role of hygienic design in improving food safety plans." Some of the topics highlighted during the session included pathogen control strategies, developing hygienic design training for staff, and avoiding pitfalls in hygienic design.
The discussions and insights shared by subject matter experts clearly highlighted the stark limitations of legacy facilities or equipment compared to the ideal choice of hygienically designed equipment. Achieving this ideal isn’t an easy feat—3-A, for instance, takes a holistic approach to hygienic design by integrating several crucial elements:
1. Equipment design
2. Facility design
3. Cleaning and sanitizing protocols
4. Operational design and GMP procedures
5. Quality and regulation focus
In line with recent developments in new GFSI industry scopes—such as JI (for building constructors and equipment manufacturers) and JII (for building and equipment users)—we can anticipate Certification Program Owners (developers of GFSI benchmarked standards like BRC, SQF, and FSSC 22000) to incorporate these hygienic design benchmarking requirements into their future program versions. Beyond just capital assets like buildings and equipment, hygienic design principles should also apply to sanitation and material handling tools, as improperly designed tools can become vectors of contamination.
Since 2015, Remco has been offering Vikan’s line of Ultra-Safe Technology brushes and brooms. These tools are specially designed for use in high-risk food processing areas, such as ready-to-eat facilities. Each tool features a smooth surface and lacks significant contamination traps, making them easier to clean. For assistance with selecting, installing, storing, caring for, and maintaining these hygienically designed tools, feel free to contact us. To explore our selection of tools tailored for hygiene-sensitive environments—including squeegees, handles, and one-piece shovels—click here.
References:
(a) About 3-A Sanitation Standards Inc.: As an independent organization, 3-A Sanitary Standards Inc. primarily relies on the collaboration and consensus of regulatory sanitarians, equipment fabricators, and food processors when developing voluntary standards and accepted practices for food processing systems. More information about 3-A SSI is available at: http://www.3-a.org/.
(b) Legacy facility or equipment typically refers to outdated, obsolete, old, or overused capital assets used at a site that were not originally constructed or installed with hygienic design principles in mind. Such assets may create more maintenance and breakage issues in the medium to long term.
(1) https://www.ehedg.org/fileadmin/News_and_Events/EHEDG_3A_SSI_Endorse_New_GFSI_Hygienic-Design-Benchmarking-Requirements.pdf
(2) https://remcoproducts.com/how-to-keep-cleaning-tools-from-becoming-vectors-of-contamination/
(3) https://remcoproducts.com/ust-white-paper/
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This version is more conversational and expands slightly beyond the original word count to make it appear more natural and human-written.