Introduction to Hygienic Design (Plus the only sanitary design checklist you will ever need)

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Hygienic design is a set of principles for designing food equipment and food handling areas that are easy to clean and that stay clean for longer.  It is also referred to as sanitary design.

Hygienic design aims to protect food from contamination.

Hygienic design is fundamental to food safety.  It involves creating environments and equipment that are inherently less likely to harbour or transmit contaminants, thereby reducing the risk of food contamination and food-borne illness.

Equipment and facilities that lack proper hygienic design present significant cleaning challenges. In such environments, remnants of food and other substances can accumulate in hard-to-reach areas and crevices. These residual deposits can provide a breeding ground for microorganisms, allowing them to thrive and proliferate.

Additionally, hard-to-clean areas can accumulate cleaning liquids and residual cleaning agents and sanitisers, which pose a corrosion risk to equipment and can become a source of chemical cont…