Improving hygiene in food production starts with refined design of processing and packaging equipment. For manufacturers engaged in the production of foods with strict requirements in terms of purity (e.g. non-gluten, peanut-free etc.), the appropriate design for equipment like vertical baggers and horizontal flow wrappers can reduce the possibility of cross contamination between different product batches.
While a number of regional regulatory agencies, such as the FDA and the British Retail Consortium (BRC) have established standards for equipment design to diminish food contamination risks, there is no global comprehensive legislation or regulatory standard for design. However, there is a clear trend toward more regulation, which reflects intensifying concerns over the global food supply.