Yearbook 2013/2014 - ehedg

European Hygienic Engineering & Design Group
Improved hygienic design and performance of food
conveyor belts
Olaf Heide, Habasit AG (Headquarters), CH - 4153 REINACH-BASEL, e-mail: olaf.heide@habasit.com
Food conveyor belts can be found in nearly all industrial food
processing and packaging lines. They are integral to ensuring
a smooth and trouble-free process flow on the production
line. For example, unexpected failures or breakdowns
can be costly and cause severe problems in a continuous
production. Hence, conveyor belts that are designed to
be reliable and rugged in the production environment can
contribute significantly to process efficiencies and profitability.
Furthermore, they typically come into direct contact with food
as an integral part of a process line, and therefore play an
important role in terms of safe and hygienic food processing.
The European Hygienic Engineering & Design Group
(EHEDG) and all of its member companies aim to support
and improve safe food production through hygienic design
of equipment and components. Several leading conveyor
belt manufacturers are members of EHEDG and actively
contribute to various subgroups. As part of the equipment
design process, EHEDG assesses hygienic design of
dedicated belting solutions for direct food contact. An
example is the Habasit HyCLEAN CIP system, Following
thorough evaluation and implementation of improvements,
EHEDG recently assigned for the first time a certificate of
compliance to Habasit’s plastic modular belt types M5060
and M5065 with sprocket and clean-in-place (CIP) system.
All three components comply with hygienic design principles
but utilise their full potential when incorporated as a package
into food conveyors and equipment.
Challenges related to food conveyor belts
The vast variety of food products, processes, manufacturing
methods and equipment requires belts that are able to cope
with mechanical, chemical and environmental conditions.
Each single aspect of production, from size, weight and
shape, to consistency or temperature of conveyed goods,
can have an impact on the performance and lifetime of
a food conveyor belt. Needless to say, there is not one
universal solution that can address all of these aspects. Belts
have to be designed and selected for the intended use and
associated requirements of the manufacturing operation.
This article focuses on improving the hygienic design and
performance of synthetic conveyor belts using plastic
materials as a main design element, since steel belts
follow a different design pathway and thus require separate
considerations.
If this is not done correctly it can cause process problems
such as unexpected breakdowns, yield reduction, product
and allergen contamination by foreign objects and/or
microbial contamination and improper hygiene conditions.
All of these aspects have an impact on the food processor’s
costs and profitability.
Scratched / damaged Plastic Surface damages on coated
Modular Belt (Meat cutting line) fabric belt (Fish processing)
Waste and soiled belt surface
(dough processing)
Fraying belt edges
(Pizza processing)
Figures 1. Things you do not want to see in a food process.
Problems, as shown above, can be avoided by dedicated
selection of belts for their specific application. There are
many solutions on the market to improve durability, chemical
resistance, good release of sticky goods and cleaning
efficacy. But there is more to consider, including the three
pillars of conveyor belt hygiene:
• Food contact material legislation
• Hygiene and food safety requirements
• Impact of equipment hygienic design and cleaning
Pillars of conveyor belt hygiene
Food conveyor belt manufacturers not only must care for the
design of their products, but also ensure that all materials
used in belt construction comply with food contact legislation.
It is especially important to understand and follow the
requirements of regional legislation where food processes
are located and/or where the equipment is put into operation.
Many equipment and component manufacturers also maintain
compliance with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
regulations pertaining to food-contact materials; however,
these rules are not sufficient for operations in the European
Union (EU). In Europe, the most important regulation is the
framework directive EC 1935/2004 and its amendments,
which cover materials and articles intended to come into
contact with food. EU regulation 10/2011 (also known as
Plastics Implementation Measure [PIM]) is a dedicated
regulation governing the use of plastic materials, such as