In today’s world, the terms sanitary and hygienic design are commonly used to describe the requirements for food processing equipment and facilities. In fact, hygienic equipment design is a key element for producing safe, quality food. The criteria found in 3-A Sanitary Standards, a McLean, Va.-based independent, not-for-profit corporation dedicated to advancing hygienic equipment design, holds special benefit and utility for food processing equipment because it addresses the features of food product contact and non-product contact surfaces.
Some of the basic elements of equipment design for food product contact surfaces are as follows: