Cleaning and Disinfection

Cleaning and disinfection are carried out in order to produce safe products with acceptable shelf life and quality. Fat and protein are the most common types of soil in slaughterhouses. Cutting devices, conveyor belts, eviscerators and slaughtering chains are known as parts that are difficult to clean. The mechanical and chemical power, temperature and contact time in the cleaning regime should be carefully chosen to achieve an adequate cleaning effect. The cleanliness of process surfaces should be detected regularly with suitable methods. Failures in cleaning can be noticed by comparing individually obtained results to results obtained in long-term routine hygiene control. The general aims of cleaning and disinfection are removal of soil and microbes including biofilms, that is microbes embedded in a self-produced extracellular polymeric substance which is also referred to as slime, from process surfaces. With a good hygienic design the lifetime of the process equipment can be increased