Hygienic design in fruit and vegetable processing

Our innate calling for customer service has meant that Urtasun is constantly seeking to incorporate solutions to new, emerging and increasingly demanding global requirements, into both its equipment and products. Hygienic design is key to guaranteeing the safety, quality and efficiency of fruit and vegetable processing.

Hygienic design minimises the chance of food contamination, cuts costs (in time and the costs of cleaning and disinfecting, as well as by reducing water and energy consumption), and has a less harmful environmental impact.

Our incorporation into EHEDG is a clear sign of our intentions: the concepts and criteria of hygienic design should form an intrinsic part of the Urtasun equipment. Meeting new needs, keeping at the forefront of techniques and design, and continuous innovation, have been and will always be the trademark signs of Urtasun.

Cleaning fruit and vegetable processing equipment

One of the main aims of hygienic design is to make it easier to clean fruit and vegetable processing equipment, avoiding nooks and crannies in machinery design and taking into account the following aspects:

• - Choice of surfaces. The material type, its roughness, and waterproof nature all need to be considered.
• - Eliminate angles, corners and dead spaces.
• - Quality soldering and watertight joins.
• - In-plant distribution and separating areas of different hygienic degrees.
• - Accessible equipment.

The equipment used in processing fruit and vegetables – dry cleaning, washing, preparing and cutting, blanching, conveyor belts, vibrators, etc. - is easier to clean and disinfect if hygienic design criteria are built into its development, given that this avoids the accumulation of food waste and dirt, reducing the risk of food contamination and increasing food safety and the sustainability of productive processes.