Air quality in food production environments

One issue that still causes many doubts in the food industry is the maintenance of air in production environments. Uncontrolled air quality can cause numerous problems related to surface contamination and, consequently, product contamination, mainly from particulate matter and micro-organisms.

An industrial hygiene program that focuses on surface hygiene is not effective when there are other sources of contamination, such as environmental contamination.

Challenges in maintaining air quality in food industries

The demands of the global market are leading to more and more legislation governing the subject. Currently, we have as a guideline Resolution - RE/ANVISA No. 9 of January 16, 2003, which defines Reference Standards for Indoor Air Quality in Artificially Air-Conditioned Environments for Public and Collective Use. In addition, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) also offers important guidelines. In addition to the statutory requirements, certified companies must meet the GFSI Benchmarking Requirements v2020.1 (June 2020) require the procedure for Environmental Monitoring. According to the FSSC 22000 Environmental Monitoring Guide, “the GFSI requirement is a risk-based approach must be in place to define the microbiological environmental monitoring program, which must be established, implemented and maintained to reduce the risk of food contamination. Once a site has validated its cleaning and sanitation programs, it is crucial to implement effective environmental monitoring to help verify the effectiveness of the cleaning and sanitation program in removing microbiological hazards.”

In order to meet the existing standards, the maintenance team needs to be trained and aware, and this is a major challenge, because in addition to preventive and corrective maintenance programs, there needs to be harmony between the hygiene team, the quality control department and the team responsible for utilities (water, steam, ice and air), which in some companies comes under the Environment department.

Strategies for maintaining air quality in food production

Air compliance monitoring is generally carried out by the Quality Control area and shared with the maintenance team, so that the result can be monitored by all those involved, helping to direct actions to deal with any deviations.

Impacts on the lack of air quality control

If the internal air in the industry is not properly controlled, the damage can be enormous, both for the health of the employees and for the products handled in the process, which are unable to reach the end of their shelf life and show signs of deterioration, such as yeast, mold, etc., compromising batches and batches of product, the health of the consumer and the possibility of the product being recalled from the market.

The main routines to be followed include cleaning and changing the filters, sanitizing the cold generation system and utilities, and filtering the compressed air in the line.

Methods for analyzing air quality in production environments

Air monitoring is carried out through microbiological analysis with samples collected by exposing plates for a certain time or by suctioning the air. It is recommended that the following technical standards be adopted for assessing and controlling indoor air in air-conditioned environments for collective use: NBR 16401 (Parts 1, 2 and 3) of the ABNT - Brazilian Association of Technical Standards, which replaces the old NBR 6401.

The reference standards adopted complement the basic measures defined in Ordinance GM/MS No. 3,523/98 of August 28, 1998, for the purpose of recognizing, evaluating and controlling Indoor Air Quality in air-conditioned environments.

Conclusion:

Air safety in the food and packaging industry must be a robust prerequisite program to ensure not only consumer health, but consumer confidence in the product brand.

Sources:

1. ANVISA – Resolução RE nº 9, de 16 de janeiro de 2003
2. OPAS – Organização Pan-Americana da Saúde
3. ABNT NBR 16401
4. Portaria GM/MS nº 3.523/98
5. FSSC 22000 - Documento de Orientação: Monitoramento Ambiental, Versão 2 | Julho de 2023