By Holger Schmidt, Global Industry Manager Food & Beverage, Mettler-Toledo Product Inspection
It starts with something small. A single droplet of water left to pool inside a crevice. A crack too fine for the naked eye, but just wide enough to trap organic residue. One cleaning step skipped in a rush to get back online.
Then come the consequences: a contamination alert. A product recall. A line shutdown. And suddenly, what looked like a minor design oversight becomes a multi-million-pound mistake.
In food, beverage and pharmaceutical production, there’s no room for shortcuts – yet many manufacturers still rely on equipment that’s difficult to clean, prone to microbial build-up and costly to maintain. That’s where hygienic design comes in. And while it’s often framed as a compliance requirement, its real power lies in something far more valuable: operational efficiency.
Let’s explore how well-designed product inspection equipment can not only support public health and legal obligations, but also unlock smarter, leaner more resilient manufacturing.
Meeting Standards Without Losing Speed
Today’s manufacturers are navigating a global tangle of standards. From Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI)-benchmarked schemes like the BRCGS and Food Safety System Certification 22000 (FSSC 22000), to the US FDA’s (Food & Drug Administration) Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) rules and the European Hygienic Engineering & Design Group (EHEDG) guidelines, hygienic design is no longer a niche requirement – it’s central to how compliance is measured. Hygienic design goes beyond surface-level standards; FDA 21CFR177 and EN 1935/2004 plus GB 4806 are regulations about the type of materials used that are intended for contact with food. Ingress Protection (IP) ratings such as IP65 or IP66 signify how well the equipment is protected against solids (i.e. dust) and liquids (i.e. water).
The True Cost of Hygienic Design
Hygienic design should also play a foundational role in developing a site’s Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) programme. It needs to be clear that using hygienically designed equipment is not simply about satisfying auditors; it is about producing safe, high-quality products as efficiently as possible. Production line equipment must be constantly cleaned and sterilised however costs increase in line with the more time, energy, water and detergents that are used.
Product inspection equipment sits at the heart of this approach. Systems must support proper hygiene, traceability and contamination control – and they are often scrutinised during audits to confirm cleanability down to a microbiological level. But when equipment is designed for easy, consistent cleaning, meeting compliance requirements becomes less of a burden and more of a competitive advantage. It protects the consumer against potentially harmful product, streamlines operations, upholds product integrity and ultimately strengthens the bottom line.
Clean Faster, Run Smarter
Time spent cleaning is time lost in production and impacts the bottom line – but with the right design, cleaning becomes faster, more predictable and less resource-intensive, ultimately improving the Return on Investment (ROI). That’s where hygienic design delivers operational wins far beyond compliance.
Whether a site uses Clean-in-Place (CIP) systems – where cleaning solutions circulate automatically through equipment – or Cleaning Out of Place (COP) methods that involve disassembly, or manual sanitisation, effective cleaning is fundamental. Equipment must allow for thorough sanitisation between runs to prevent cross-contamination and minimise downtime.
Ease of access is a cornerstone of hygienic design. Surfaces, components and joints must either be fully closed to prevent gaps or made large and open enough to be cleaned easily and effectively. Equipment that can be cleaned without extensive dismantling, or where parts can be quickly and intuitively removed, dramatically reduces cleaning time and improves reliability.
This has a direct impact on uptime. Less time spent on cleaning and validation means more time producing – especially important in facilities running multiple product SKUs or batches. Cleaning routines become more repeatable, less prone to error and easier to document. All of this is critical under GMP and other regulatory regimes, such as the GFSI guidelines or defined within a site’s own HACCP strategy.
In pharmaceutical settings, where manual cleaning is standard, design features like smooth welds, minimal crevices and angled surfaces can significantly cut operator workload and improve consistency. In food production, faster washdowns and quicker changeovers give teams the flexibility to run smaller, more frequent batches – improving throughput without increasing risk.
Well-designed systems also reduce reliance on chemical detergents and high-water volumes, contributing to sustainability goals and lowering operating costs.
Ultimately, hygienic design supports a leaner, cleaner process – where less time scrubbing means more time producing.
When Crisis Forces Change
History shows that some of the biggest leaps in hygienic standards were made in the wake of outbreaks. In 2009, the United States faced a major Salmonella incident linked to peanuts[1]. Just two years later, a deadly Listeria outbreak from cantaloupes dominated headlines[2]. In both cases, the equipment in use wasn’t up to the task – hard to clean, poorly maintained and structurally flawed. Similar issues have affected the dairy industry too. In 2025, frozen supplemental shakes were linked to a deadly Listeria outbreak across 21 states. An FDA investigation found the outbreak strain inside the facility, confirming biological contamination was likely due to problems within the processing environment rather than the raw ingredients.[3]
Meanwhile in the pharmaceutical world, contamination inside injectable drugs has led to patient exposure, regulatory shutdowns and serious public scrutiny. These aren’t isolated events — they’re reminders that poor hygienic practices can slip through the cracks, sometimes literally. This is where safety concerns and the fear of biological contamination take over. Poor system design often means that cleaning must be done with extreme measures – using high temperatures, long cycle times, aggressive concentrations and harsh cleaning media – effectively sterilising the system to death. Not only does this require enormous effort, but it also puts additional strain on both equipment and resources.
And the cost isn’t just reputational. According to the Grocery Manufacturers Association, some companies hit by recalls have reported financial impacts of $99 million or more. Others never fully recover.[4]
So, it’s no surprise that regulators have tightened their grip. In the U.S., the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) mandates proactive food safety planning. The FDA recognised the problem very early on and founded the organisation 3A in 1929, whose guidelines and their implementation are mandatory for the dairy industry. In Europe, EHEDG plays a key role in guiding hygienic best practice from factory layout to machine geometry.
What Hygienic Design Really Means
Hygienic design isn’t about overengineering or adding expense – it’s about removing friction. Friction in cleaning, in maintenance, in downtime. It’s about choosing equipment that’s built to be cleaned thoroughly, quickly and repeatedly without damage or degradation.
That translates into smooth, rounded surfaces instead of corners where debris can collect. It means no unnecessary seams, screws or inaccessible parts. And it calls for corrosion-resistant materials that won’t break down under pressure – literally. Because in many facilities, equipment must withstand high-pressure, high-temperature cleaning with aggressive detergents multiple times per shift. Surfaces should also be large and wide to allow for effective self-draining, preventing the build-up of moisture that could harbour contaminants. Further, wherever components join, they must either be welded or sealed with a gasket to accommodate temperature variations and maintain a reliable hygienic seal over time.
Systems like checkweighers, metal detection systems and x-ray inspection machines may not process food or pharmaceuticals directly, but they sit at key points in the production flow, usually very close to the packaging machines and, therefore, share the same hygienic environment. If those systems harbour bacterial contamination or are too complex to sanitise properly between product runs, the risks ripple outward, such as by these systems’ own contaminants making their way into the final product.
Where Inspection Equipment Comes Under Pressure
Product inspection systems often operate at Critical Control Points (CCPs) – handling raw materials and unpackaged goods, transitioning between hygiene zones or sitting directly in the product path. These locations are some of the most vulnerable within a manufacturing environment, yet inspection equipment is sometimes an afterthought in hygienic design planning.
Dr Jürgen Hofmann, a leading expert in hygienic engineering, notes that design flaws are frequently missed until cleaning starts. “Sometimes it’s just enough to watch someone clean a system to see where the weak points are. Cavities, dead spaces and seams all add to cleaning time and increase risk. On top of that, the natural tendency for cleaning personnel – who are often not the same team that operates the machine – is to look for shortcuts when the effort required is too high. The greater the effort needed for cleaning, the more likely it is that quality will suffer,” he says.
In high-moisture, high-protein, or high-sugar environments – or any combination of these – bacteria find the perfect conditions to thrive. They favour areas where water can pool, where organic material can accumulate, and where surfaces are rough, cracked or inaccessible. If left unchecked, these environments allow microbes to colonise and spread, making contamination not just possible but likely.
To combat this, equipment must do more than resist corrosion and dust or water ingress – it must actively repel contaminants through smart, hygienic design. Rounded frames eliminate pooling. Welded seams prevent bacterial harbourage. Fully enclosed tubing stops unseen moisture seepage. Thoughtful placement of components is equally vital: electrical boxes should be sealed and elevated; sensors kept out of the product contact zone; and cables routed for easy cleaning and inspection. Every design detail must work to reduce cleaning effort and minimise potential failure points.
Crucially, hygiene under pressure demands more than mechanical durability. It demands design that works with cleaning teams – not against them – by making surfaces accessible and cleaning straightforward. Material selection plays a key role here: materials must withstand both production and repeated high-intensity cleaning without becoming hard, brittle or compromised over time. Only by aligning material choice, construction and cleanability can facilities maintain true hygienic design standards.
From Cost Centre to Efficiency Driver
Too often, hygienic design is seen as an up-front cost rather than a long-term investment. But every extra minute spent cleaning, every damaged belt, every unplanned repair adds up. Multiply those over weeks, months, years – and the total cost of ownership tells a very different story.
Well-designed systems reduce chemical and water usage. They cut back on wear and tear. They improve changeover times and reduce the risk of cross-contamination between SKUs. And they help teams get more done with fewer slowdowns and less rework.
For instance, checkweighers with open-frame stainless steel construction allow for faster washdowns. X-ray inspection and metal detection systems with sloped surfaces prevent pooling. Belt systems designed for tool-free removal cut minutes from maintenance routines. Every small design choice adds up to meaningful operational gain.
Building Hygiene into the Blueprint
In a landscape shaped by consumer and cost pressure, stricter rules and razor-thin margins, manufacturers need every advantage they can get. Hygienic design offers a way to not only protect product integrity, but to run cleaner, leaner and smarter.
But not all “washdown-ready” systems are equal. Some are designed with hygiene at the core. Others are adapted to meet the minimum standard. Many systems advertise washdown capabilities with IP65 or IP66 ratings, indicating protection against dust and high-pressure water jets. However, these ratings alone don’t guarantee hygienic design or easy cleanability. So, the next time you evaluate product inspection equipment, don’t stop at the IP rating. Ask:
- Can it be cleaned quickly and thoroughly?
- Are all parts accessible without tools?
- Has it been designed to support our cleaning protocols — or just survive them?
Because when hygiene is built in – not bolted on – the benefits flow through every part of your operation.
To learn more about the functional design principles, standards and practical applications that underpin hygienically designed product inspection systems, download the eGuide: Understanding the Principles of Hygienic Design by Mettler-Toledo: www.mt.com/hygienicdesigneguide-pr
[1] www.cdc.gov/salmonella/typhimurium/update.html
[2] www.cdc.gov/listeria/outbreaks/cantaloupes-jensen-farms/120811/index.html.
[3] https://www.fda.gov/food/outbreaks-foodborne-illness/outbreak-investigation-listeria-monocytogenes-frozen-supplemental-shakes-february-2025?utm_source=chatgpt.com
