3. Sanitary Design

Scope

This section contains the principles of sanitary design for building all categories of premises.

3.1 Outcome

Premises shall be located, designed, constructed, adapted and maintained in accordance with good sanitary design principles to suit the functions carried out within them and to protect food and byproducts from contamination or deterioration.

3.2 General Principles

3.2.1

The design and construction of premises shall not jeopardise the hygienic holding, slaughter and dressing of animals and the processing, packing, storing and transport of food and byproducts, by making the premises a source of contamination, inhibiting hygienic production, not protecting food or byproduct from contamination, preventing effective cleaning, etc. The control of such hazards must be inherent in the design and construction of the premises.

HACCP is a powerful tool which can ensure that the "best" design is accomplished and should be used both for the production as well as the cleaning and sanitation aspects of design.

3.2.2 Working space

Adequate working space shall be provided to allow for the hygienic performance of all operations, for access by personnel, for the installation of equipment and for the storage and access of materials.

3.2.3 Access for cleaning

The design shall permit ready access for cleaning, and allow for the effective supervision of food or byproduct production.

3.2.4 Environmental hazards

Buildings and facilities shall be designed and constructed to minimise the entrance and harbourage of vermin and the entry of environmental contaminants such as smoke, dust, odours, ash, etc.

3.2.5 Cross contamination

Buildings and facilities shall be designed in such a way that operations which might give rise to cross contamination of one food or material by another shall be separated physically or by time. Other effective means may be considered by the CMVO. Incompatible functions shall be physically separated.

3.2.5.1	There shall be physical separation between food and byproduct, slaughter and dressing of animals, processing and packing functions and unprotected food and byproduct storing and transporting.
3.2.5.2	Process layouts shall be designed so that unprotected cooked and finished food or byproduct does not cross raw production lines.
3.2.5.3	The layout of premises shall separate, as appropriate, microbiologically high and low risk materials, processes and personnel working within them.

High risk processes may deal with ready-to-eat food that will not receive any additional form of microbiological kill step before the food is consumed.

Low risk processes may deal with pre-packaged food that will not be exposed to the environment.

3.2.5.4

Outer packaging shall be discarded prior to entry into food areas and food support areas unless separation is maintained by distance or time so as to minimise cross contamination.

3.2.6 Process flows

Buildings and facilities shall be designed to facilitate hygienic operations by means of a regulated process flow from the arrival of the raw material at the premises to the finished food or byproduct, and shall provide for appropriate temperature conditions for the process and the food. Premises shall be designed, wherever possible, so that the principle of one-way-flow of food or byproducts can be implemented.

To adhere to good sanitary design principles, buildings, services and equipment should be designed around the process flow path. While inadequate process flows can often be controlled through managed solutions, without good sanitary design at the onset, food safety and sanitation programmes can become significantly more costly. In addition, the effectiveness of these programmes is reduced, and problems such as food poisoning, spoilage, insect infestations and injurious foreign material contaminations are more likely to occur.

3.2.7 Personnel flows

Where appropriate, premises shall be designed so that personnel flows and access can be controlled to prevent cross contamination.

There may be many ways that assist in controlling cross contamination. For example, personnel access between byproducts facilities and food areas and food support facilities should not be possible without facilities to provide for clean protective clothing, hand washing and either a change of footwear or going through a sanitising foot bath.

All information on this website is subject to a disclaimer.

Contact for enquiries

New Zealand Food Safety Authority
68-86 Jervois Quay
PO Box 2835
Wellington
NEW ZEALAND

Phone: +64 4 894 2500
Fax: +64 4 894 2501

Contact NZFSA about this page