By Torsten Klein | Strategic Market Manager KAM - Food & Packaging, SMC Germany
FEBRUARY 2025
For those operating in the food and beverage industry, achieving total food safety is essential for protecting public health, maintaining consumer trust and ensuring regulatory compliance. If you’re a food plant production engineer or a machine builder serving this critical sector, you must think carefully about the hygienic design of systems and components. Machines should not only provide effective and efficient performance but also maintain the highest levels of protection against contaminants and support easy cleaning.
Food production is subject to several different modes of contamination, including physical, chemical and microbiological, as well as allergens. As part of a proactive approach to prevention, five key principles govern the hygienic design of automation components: material of construction, ease of cleaning, ease of access for cleaning, ease of draining, and segregation (to prevent contamination by allergens). Together, these principles will help maximise your food safety efforts, prevent potentially catastrophic consequences for consumers, and minimise the costly downtime of cleaning and sanitising operations.
Law and order
It’s our duty to inform or remind you that food safety is a legal requirement. Numerous regulations oversee the demands for components and systems deployed in food production environments. Among the most pertinent are EN1672-2, which sets out the hygiene and cleanability requirements for food processing machinery in Europe, while Regulation (EC) 1935/2004 concerns materials and articles intended to come into contact with food.
Regulation (EC) 852/2004 - covering the hygiene of foodstuffs - states that food businesses must have a food safety management system based on the principles of HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points). HACCP helps you to assess processes, identify potential hazards, implement necessary controls, improve food safety and enhance operational efficiencies. HACCP plans are subject to review at least every 3 years or if there are any changes in production by global certified programme owners such as the BRCGS (Brand Reputation Compliance Global Standard), SQFI (Safe Quality Food Institute), IFS (International Featured Standards) and FSSC 22000.
Food and beverage processing facilities looking to pass these audits should include hygienically designed products in their URS (User Requirement Specification). Auditors will ask to see this document, along with evidence of due diligence following the machine’s arrival. For example, if you require your machine builder to use actuators made from 304 stainless steel with a surface finish of RA 0.8 µm (as specified in your URS), you must check compliance. Any failures in this regard will result in a non-conformance.
Engineered for protection
With further reference to hygienic design, the key body in Europe is EHEDG (European Hygienic Engineering & Design Group). SMC already has an EHEDG-compliant pneumatic insert fitting, namely our KFG2H*-E series.
As a concept, any EHEDG-compliant component will feature a rounded design for better flow of the wash solution and less potential for liquid pooling. Other EHEDG design guidelines include external surface roughness of RA 0.8 µm or less, corner radii of 3 mm or more, stainless steel material with high anti-corrosion performance, and gasket seals made of rubber materials compliant with Regulation (EC) 1935/2004.
Here at SMC, we offer a number of clean-design pneumatic products, including our CG5-X2977 stainless steel cylinder, antibacterial filters and JSY 5000H manifold valve as well as vacuum pads and elastic fingers for direct food contact. In fact, we’re now adding to our portfolio for food processing facilities with a new rod-type electric actuator.
SMC´s Hygienic Design Stainless Steel Actuator – Spotless performance
Electric performance
Electric actuators are gaining traction in the food and beverage industry in certain applications. This type of actuator can drive to more positions than a pneumatic counterpart, for example, making it ideal for the smooth and fast filling of bottles without foaming. Electric actuators are also useful for handling many different sizes of packaging, where flexibility and a wide motion range are advantageous attributes.
Our HF2A-LEY series rod-type electric actuator offers features that include IP69K-equivalent ingress protection, the use of stainless steel and FDA-compliant construction materials, a rounded profile, and NSF H1 food-grade grease. As a result, food plants and machine builders developing food cutting, chopping or filling machines - or any other type of machinery subject to regular cleaning and sanitising regimes - will find genuine benefits.
SMC´s Electric Actuator, Dust-tight / Water-jet-proof (IP69K Equivalent) Rod Type – Withstand the washdown
For many years, electric actuators were not suitable for the food industry due to intensive washdown procedures. However, IP69K-equivalent ingress protection means components such as our HF2A-LEY electric actuator can withstand intermittent water jets as they are used commonly in the food industry. To be clear, although a component may carry a high IP rating, it does not mean it can withstand harsh cleaning chemicals or in continued submersion in water temperatures of 50-60 °C. A holistic approach to component design is therefore paramount in all food industry processes.
To gain the optimal advice on automation components (electric or pneumatic) destined for use in the food and beverage applications, contact our team of experts here at SMC. Our fully qualified engineers - trained in both HACCP principles and EHEDG hygienic design guidelines - are ready to provide recommendations and solutions to the diverse needs of both machine builders and food production plants.
