1. Principles for hygienic design and zoning
Quality and Safety Issues in Fish Handling
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A course in quality and safety management in
fishery harbours in Sri Lanka
NARA, DFAR, ICEIDA and UNU-FTP
Delivering time 75 minutes
Icelandic International Development Agency (ICEIDA)
Iceland
United Nations University Fisheries Training Programme (UNU-FTP)
National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA)
Sri Lanka
Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DFAR)

2. Content Sources of contamination Hygienic design – key criteria
Zoning of harbour
Talk to slide
Learning objective :
After this lecture participants will
- Be able to explain common sources of seafood contamination from facilities
- Be able to understand hygiene design criteria for seafood handling/processing areas and the role of zoning to ensure food safety and quality

3. Learning Objectives
After this lecture participants will be familiar with:
how seafood can be contaminated
how the hygienic design criteria and zoning can reduce the contamination during handling
requirements for different zones

4. Increased pressure on fish handlers regarding hygiene:
"New" hygienic problems (e.g. bacteria, viruses)
More demanding specifications from buyers
Increased interest in further processing of foods and in chilled products
Consumption of raw or minimally processed seafood e.g. Sushi, sashimi, cold smoked fish
Hygienic procedures are a very important part of daily operations in seafood producing establishments. For many food industries cleaning and sanitation operations have become more and more important part of the daily work. Results indicate that this has led to lower numbers of bacteria in the products.
At the same time there has been increased pressure on the producers regarding hygiene and this slide describes 3 very important reasons:
"New" hygienic problems (e.g. bacteria, viruses)
More demanding specification from buyers
Increased interest in further processing of foods and in chilled products
Discuss these facts – E.coli and Salmonella from the harbour, histamine in Tuna fish, chemical contamination form harbour water
Buyers do more specific and stringent requirement then the authority state in laws and regulation. Different markets like EU and USA can even have different kind of demands.
All stakeholders needs to know about all relevant public health regulation and what is also very important is that consumers are more and more aware that food, including fish and seafood should be nutritious, wholesome and processed under sanitary conditions.
The consumption pattern is also very important and it is always changing like the consumer like to have more RTE – food which do not need long preparation time (cooking etc. ) before eating. And the consumer like also to have it fresh with a long storage time.

5. Origin of bacteria in seafood - environmental routes
surface
directly via product’s contact surfaces
e.g. pallets, tables knives
indirectly via other routes
e.g. drains, floors, pier
people and animals (dogs, cats, crows)
water – harbour seawater
air
sewage from toilet waste
fish waste, blood water,
trash fish
“Cleaning” fish with harbour water
The environment around a seafood plant can contaminate the plant and its products.
Ask participiants if they know about the origin of bacteria in seafood
Follow slide to give example
Seafood involves many different types and some types are more likely to be contaminated than others.
Molluscs ( e.g. mussels) are more likely to be contaminated than crustaceans (e.g. shrimp) and finfish.
The raw product can be contaminated, especially if it is not harvested properly and the boat or truck that carries it is not clean.
Worker can contaminate seafood, especially through poor hygiene. Also processing equipment, boxes, pallets, tools, walls, floors, utensils, supplies, and pests can contaminate seafood. The most serious problem is when microbes contaminate ready-to eat food. Therefore workers must carefully clean and disinfect all equipment.
Raw untreated sewage can carry microorganisms causing many kind of diseases e.g. typhoid and paratyphoid fever. Faulty plumping can cause contamination. If raw sewage drains or flows into drinking water lines, wells, rivers, harbour seawater then seafood will be contaminated.
Separation is therefore of most important

6. Basic problems in handling and processing fish:
high number of bacteria and/or
presence of pathogenic bacteria or indicators thereof
High numbers of bacteria can be caused by many different factors. It is assumed that the flesh of living fish is free of micro-organisms but the skin and gut is not. Soon after death, bacteria start to penetrate the flesh.
Therefore high number of bacteria in the fish flesh can indicate that the fish has been stored long enough for the bacteria to penetrate the skin. With normal iced storage (less then 5 days) this is not the reason for too high bacterial counts in the flesh.
The conditions in seafood are suitable shelter for growing of microorganisms because of high water, slack muscles, high nutrition. These are difficulties which we meet in seafood processing.

7. Bacterial load in fish (Ganegamarachchi, et al 2004)
Variation of aerobic plate count of skipjack tuna in multi-day boat, at pier, in vehicle, at stall and at retailed stage along the two distribution channels, Matugama and Horana
(Ganegamarachchi, et al 2004)

8. A home of pathogenic bacteria
Talk to slide and point out the hiding places of bacteria
Most common sites are drains, dirty boxes, vehicles (wheels), ground etc

9. Hygienic design of food handling/processing facilities and equipment
Three major benefits to food manufacturers
maintains product in the main product flow - Quality
prevents contamination of the product with substances that would adversely affect the health of consumer - Safety
reduces time required for an item of equipment to be cleaned - Efficiency
This slide shows the benefits from hygienic design principles to ensure hygiene in food processing.
Hygienic design provides three major benefits – Quality, Safety and Efficiency.
A well designed establishment/facility help make the sanitation program work better and more efficiently.

10. Basic hygienic design requirement
Materials for construction
Surface finishes
Joints
Fasteners
Internal angels and corners
In principle, the design of equipment and the environmental conditions must not allow any increases in concentration of relevant microorganisms.
Food contact area include all surfaces that are directly exposed to the product and all indirect surfaces from which splashed product, condensate, liquid or dust may drain, drop or be drawn into the product. This means that for hygienic design of product contact areas of equipment for open processing the area above the open product surface must also be taken into consideration
Point out the basic hygienic requirement from the slide.
Right choise of material is very important.
On the market today it is possible to find material for almost everything. Plastic is e.g. produced with narrow application range. This is good in many ways but the choice is getting more and more difficulty for the producer of the equipment because they has to know exactly about all circumstances in place where the material are used. Stainless steel can be different according to corrosion.

11. Stainless steel –AISI 304:2B
untreated (RA:0,16-0,17)
polished (RA:0,16-0,22)
glassbeaded (RA: 0,7-0,8)
50 1
50
50
This picture show different roughness of stainless steel-surfaces. All of them appear to be very smooth to the naked eye.
RA value is indicating the surface roughness. Product contact surfaces should have a finish of an acceptable Ra value and be free of imperfections such as pits, folds and crevices. For large surface area product contact surface should have a surface surface finish of 0,8μm Ra or better (EHEDG doc 8). A roughness of more then 0,8 μm may be acceptable if test results have shown that the required cleanability is achieved because of other design features. 2 3

12. Basic hygienic design requirements (cont.)
Drainage
Bearings and shaft seals
Instrumentation
Doors, covers and panels
Controls
Dead spaces
Point out that pipelines should not have dead ends where moisture and bacteria can hide – no dead legs
Bearing should wherever possible be mounted outside product area to avoid possible contamination of product by lubricants or possible failure of the bearing due to ingress of the product. Lubricant must be edible.
It is very important that all parts of equipments can drain e.g. pumps.
Doors, covers and panels should be designed so that they prevent the entry and / or accumulation of soil. Where appropriate they should be sloped to an outside

13. Hygienic design?
Good or bad?
Photo – or film

14. Most common materials used for construction in the food industry
Stainless steel
AISI-304, AISI-316 and AISI 316L
Plastics
polypropylene (PP), polyvinyl chloride unplasticised (PVC), Acetal copolymer, polycarbonate (PC), high density polyethylene (PE)
Elastomer
ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM), nitrile rubber, nitrile/butyl rubber (NBR), Silicone rubber, fluororelastomer (Viton)
Lubricants
food grade
Material used for food contact must be: (EHEDG doc. 8)
inert to the product under operating conditions
e.g. temperature, pressure, detergents, disinfectants
be durable and with a reasonable lifetime
corrosion resistant
be non-toxic, non-tainting and non-absorbent
mechanically stable
resistant to cracking, chipping, flaking, corrosion and abrasion
prevent penetration of unwanted matter under intended use
be easily cleaned and capable of being shaped
smooth and cleanable
Material used for non-food contact surface
must be easily cleanable and resistant to the product and to cleaning and disinfecting agents
if components are coated then the coating must be non-toxic and resistant to cracking, chipping and flaking
insulation must be vapour tight to avoid growth of microorganisms

15. Use of wood??????? Use of wood is only acceptable when:
it plays a favourable role e.g. cheese ripening, wine and vinegar production
its mechanical properties cannot be obtained with other available materials e.g. butcher's block
Splinters can result in foreign body contamination
Wood cutting table
Follow slide and point out the importance of cleaning wood board and specially to let it dry in between usage.
Wooden surfaces must be
cleaned effectively and disinfected
because they can retain
microorganisms which can grow
in the presence of nutrients

16. Break up of processing areas - Zoning
In a fish handling environment there are various demands regarding cleanliness in each area
hygienic requirements
low risk area and high risk area
traffic of people and vehicles
The areas must be separated according to these demands
Break up of processing areas is many times necessary, because in may cases there are different risks in each are according to the nature of the processing.
In fish factories there are various demands regarding cleanness in each area and the areas must be separated according to these demands. It is important to avoid pollution between these areas.
Especially the shrimp processing industry makes a very high demands in that politic. There are examples that people have to change close totally before crossing different areas.
For the harbours zoning can be very useful to ensure the qaulity and safety of the fish.

17. Harbour activity

18. Zoning for prevention
Keeping away unwanted items, animals and people from the product contact point is a major step towards prevention of food hygiene problems…………….
Zoning suggests divisions and limitations for area with well-defined use. It is part of total concept to prevent product contamination. Zoning implies knowledge of product, process and preventive measures……..

19. Zoning of harbour Different zone are: Pier - unloading area
high hygienic demands
Different zone are:
Pier - unloading area
Auction hall
Loading area for buyers
Loading of provisions to boats
Cleaning of boats
Other facilities
toilets, canteens, offices, fuel sheds,
parking areas,
ice-plants
net-maintenance
waste treatment/disposal
repair areas
more?
Most important
zoning will be
ineffective
without coaching
and correct
attitudes
Follow slide
Ask participants if they have some idea of another zoning e.g. special landing site, special cleaning site (for the boats), special storage of boats
3 different sites at the pier.

20. Zoning for prevention ………must remain realistic and affordable
What is to be prevented?
What are the contamination sources of concern?
What services are necessary?
Follow slide and ask participant these questions.
Write comments and answers down and discuss

21. What is wrong in this picture?????
Follow slide and ask participants about this picture
Car on the pier, oil can leek form the car.
fish direct on the pier without any pallets

22. Requirement for the pier – unloading area
Good access and easy to clean
Restrict unnecessary traffic
No direct landing of fish on the pier
access to boxes, plastic baskets and pallets
land directly into boxes or baskets and then onto pallets in the auction hall
Easy access to potable water
point 2 - unless for fisherman, provisions and landing
What else????

23. Requirement for auction halls
Easy access to potable water
Access to ice made from potable water
Washing table/basin for the fish
Cleaning facility – cleaning programme – high pressure equipment (20-70bar)
Waste bins
Cutting table
Follow slide
What else?

24. Requirement for auction halls
Floors should be made of waterproof materials that are easy to clean and disinfect
concrete
ceramic tiles
seamless resin screeds ( heavy duty, self-levelling and coatings)
Water must drain away easily
slight slope towards the drain (1 in 40 or 1 in 60)
Hygienic drainage system for waste water is an absolute necessity
durable and easy to clean material
should be as straight as possible
Follow slide
Resin-based floor
Heavy duty – 5-12mm – heavily filled trowel applied, high strength and normally slip resistant
Self-levelling – 2-5 mm – poured and floated – smooth glossy surface
Coating – mm – poor durability – often linked to microbial contamination
Examples – epoxy ( limited resistance to very high concentration of sodium hypochlorite) polyester and furan more resistant to chemical attack

25. Channels and aperture channel drain design
The type of drain used depends to a great extent upon the process operation involved.
For operations involving a considerable amount of water and solids, channel drains are often the most suitable.
For operation generating volumes of water but with little solids, aperture channel drains are more favorable.
Profile of aperture channel drains is such that all internal surfaces can be easily cleaned.
In mostcases, channels should have a fall of at least 1 in 100, have round bottoms and not to be deeper than 150mmm for ease of cleaning. They must be provided with gratings for safety reasons. The channel gratings must be easily removable, with wide aperutres ( 20 mm minimum) to allow solids to enter the drain.

26. Auction hall to close to pier Wrong use of auction hall

27. Requirement for other areas
Toilets
high standard to ensure maximum lifetime,
properly maintained with adequate water supply to flush
never open to a work area where fish is being handled due to risk of flooding from blocked drains
wrong use of toilet
Wash hand basins
adequate number in each toilet block
hand - or foot -operated faucets and soap available at all time
Follow slide and discuss the points
What else should be mentioned???

28. Requirement for other areas (cont.)
Showers
the importance of showers in a hot climate should not be underestimated
Signs and bill boards
listing food hygiene regulation for the harbour area
prohibition of dumping spillage into the harbour basin
prohibition of using seawater from harbour basin
indication of directions e.g. to toilets
Follow slide and discuss the points
What else should be mentioned???

29. Requirement for other areas (cont)
Ice-plant
Ice made from potable water
Cleaning programme
Restrict traffic
Protective clothing
Canteen
Hygienic requirement
Restroom
Fuel shed
Repair/ maintenance area
Follow slide and discuss the points
What else should be mentioned???

30. Ideal arrangement for the fish harbour
Loading
unloading
Auction hall
Discuss this picture with participants
The picture shows three main and most important zone in the harbour area.
Unloading area – just to unload the fish and to upload provision
Auction area – just to sell fish and all fish should be sold through the auction hall. Not allowed to sell it from the pier.
Loading area – for the buyers to transport the fish.
Refer to previous slides and ask participants what kind of activity should be at each zone.
Ref: Ice in fisheries. FAO fisheries technical paper no. 331 (1992)

31. References
Marriott, G. M.(1997). Essentials of food sanitation. Chapman and Hall. New York and London
Training material from UNU-FTP/Icelandic Fisheries Laboratories
Guide to Hygiene within the Fish Industry (2000). Eastfish - Fachpresse Verlag, Michael Steinert, An der Alster 21, D-20099, Hamburg
EHEDG (European Hygienic Engineering & Design Group)
document 8 – Hygienic equipment design criteria, second edition 2004
document 13 – Hygienic design of equipment for open processing, 1996
Edt. H.L.M. Lelieveld, M.A. Mostert, J. Holah and B. White (2003) Hygiene in food processing:. Wood Head Publishing Limited. Cambridge, England.

32. References
Ice in fisheries. FAO fisheries technical paper no. 331 (1992)
Fishery Harbour Manual on the Prevention of Pollution – Bay of Bengal Programme. FAO report, BOBP/MAG/22, 1999
Ganegama Arachchi, G.J. Kariyawasam, M.G.I.U., Heenatigala, P.P.M. Ariyaratne, T. Dahanayeka, T. and Jayasinghe, J.M.P.K. (2004) An investigation on the quality and handling practices of skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis) along the main commercial distribution channels of Beruwala fishery harbour. Sri Lanka J. Aquat. Sci. 9: