Low-Moisture Food Manufacturing and Storage Sanitation

Summary

Rigid sanitation practices are essential in low-moisture food manufacturing and storage facilities to maintain product acceptability and to comply with regulator requirements. A sanitary operation should be complemented with appropriate facility site selection and hygienic design of the building and equipment. Unprocessed materials should be sampled during the receiving operation to verify that they are not infested with insects, molds, rodents, or other unacceptable contaminants. During storage, unprocessed and manufactured products should be protected from contamination through effective housekeeping practices. Storage areas require routine inspection to observe for microbial and pest infestation. Inspection and cleaning frequency of storage areas depends on temperature and humidity. Cleaning in the manufacturing area should be done daily. Cleaning equipment consists of basic cleaning tools for lowmoisture product areas, including vacuum equipment, powered floor sweepers and scrubbers, and compressed air for certain applications.