Part 4 of our series discusses effective ways of managing hygienic zones and environmental monitoring zones that ensure that cross-contamination risks can be prevented, eliminated, or significantly minimised.

In Part 3 of this series, we will focus on the importance of laying out an appropriate food processing environment and controlling the processes effectively to minimise the risk of product contamination.

In this blog, we will explain why hygienic design matters when considering the selection and installation of food processing area equipment and facilities.

The safety and quality of food products rely greatly on the sanitation of the processor’s equipment and environment. Close to 18 years of data has shown that overall, 1-in-3 inspection violations in a facility may be directly related to insanitary equipment or environment.

Drains can present specific challenges to the overall sanitation efforts within food sites, as they can act as collection sinks and harbourage points for contaminants such as microbial pathogens and biofilms from where they may grow and spread to other areas of the facilities...

Hand washing is a basic, yet critical personal hygiene practice for preventing contamination and disease within food handling establishments. According to the CDC, about 89% of foodborne illness outbreaks occur due to inadequate hand washing by food workers.

During our “Foreign Body Prevention Strategies” webinar, industry experts discussed metal detection, x-ray inspection, and other foreign body controls. These are your top 10 questions, answered by our experts.

During our Hygiene in Food Retail webinar, we took audience questions. Here are six of them answered by our own hygiene experts.

A question we get asked a LOT about is the use of sponges and scourers for cleaning and, like most things in the food industry, the answer should be based on risk assessment.

In this, our final Blog in the series, we’ll look at the EU and U.S. food safety and hygiene regulatory requirements, key industry and global standard requirements, and the best sanitation practices that support a manual cleaning operation.

In part five, we are going to briefly focus on understanding the relevant departments involved during the cleaning and sanitation process within a food facility.

In part four, we will explain the basics of how to identify the locations or areas that require cleaning, and how to determine how often they’ll need cleaning. These steps are very important for the establishment of the consistently sanitary environment required for safe food...

In this third part of our six-part Blog on cleaning, we address the key question: how is the manual cleaning process typically implemented?

In numerous instances, manual cleaning offers the best practical option for cleaning, especially when it comes to cleaning of complex equipment. However, is manual cleaning just about, say, an employee using a hand brush to clean the internal surface of a soiled tank? Well, n...

This blog series will go over the various ins and outs of manual cleaning and why it is necessary for the safe production of food.

What foods do you associate with Salmonella? Most likely your answer will be raw meat and eggs, not flour or nuts. Nevertheless, Salmonella is a very resistant bacterium and can survive in all kinds of foods.

One of the great things about working for an organisation like Vikan is that I get to support the food industry and advance food safety through many different avenues. During 2019 I was involved with a one year CampdenBRI Member funded research project to update their Guidelin...

This blog post focuses on how you avoid the worst potential pitfalls of a new colour-coding system.

Do you know how important the mechanical action applied during cleaning is in removing biofilms? If you don’t already know, you’ll find the answer here.

Here are some of the key things to be aware of when you’re planning to colour code.

Advice to hotels, restaurants and catering (HoReCa) establishments on hygiene measures prior to re-opening.

The global COVID-19 pandemic is having an impact on us all. To ensure the continued provision of key products and services at this time, governments around the world have identified ‘key workers’ whose activities are critical to the COVID-19 response.

The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) brings together key actors of the food industry to collaboratively drive continuous improvement in food safety management systems around the world.

Food handling utensils like buckets, scoops, scrapers, and shovels play an essential role in food processing environments. As food contact surfaces themselves, food handling utensils should possess characteristics that enhance food safety rather than create additional risks.

Why should your cleaning tools and utensils be colour coded? It is a question we’re often asked, even though it makes sense to many. Here is how we answer the question.

This blog post provides information on selection and maintenance of food industry cleaning tools and utensils, with regard to minimising the risk of product contamination by foreign bodies.

Easy to clean Vikan Ultra Safe Technology products have delivered an outstanding cleaning standard for a large UK deli and meats manufacturer.

Food industry customers often ask us about the best way to clean up glass breakages and the resulting debris. Fortunately, Vikan has experienced Customer Service and Technical Sales Teams, and a dedicated Hygiene Team ready to help you with good practical advice about this.

Cross-plant colour coding for hygiene equipment boosts effectiveness in four Refresco beverage bottling plants in Germany.

How to minimise allergen cross-contamination using colour-coded equipment and colour-coded site segregation.

Vikan Declarations of Compliance(DoC) are your guarantee that Vikan plastic cleaning equipment and food handling tools contain no toxic substances that could contaminate food. Vikan DoCs are clear, easy to read and always up to date.

Get valuable insights from Dr. Phil Voysey to where to look for listeria in a food production and how to prevent cleaning tools from cross contaminating. Learn more about listeria and read Dr. Phil Voysey’s blog post here.

What’s in a brush? Well, it’s a question we take very seriously – and quite literally. As a matter of fact, you can trace the entire 125-year history of our company by examining the materials that comprise the products we make.

In his memoir, Life and Works, Vikan founder A.P. Pedersen recounts a number of experiences from the company’s earliest days and reflects upon these as an older man looking back on his life. Some of the stories he tells seem to have a special resonance for us at Vikan. They ha...

If you produce chilled, ready-to-eat foods, you’ll need to know where you have to clean to avoid food contamination. This post details the most common Listeria hideouts – and how to clean for this dangerous bacteria.

Find out what Global Food Safety Schemes, including BRC, FSSC 22000, and SQF, say about cleaning tool selection, use and maintenance requirements, and how you can optimise your cleaning tool audit compliance

Today, the best way to make your investment in Vikan profitable is to have a customised site survey carried out. In sectors with high hygiene requirements, such as food preparation environments, the inspection of cleaning equipment is essential in any effective hygiene man...

During our travels and many site visits, we are often asked: “What makes Vikan different from our competitors?” Well, the short answer is our company’s purpose.

Don’t rush. Take a breath and start paying careful attention to the buckets in used in the food and beverage sector.

Vikans UST brushware reduces bristle loss and helps protect your business from foreign body complaints – read more.

Read Vikan’s recommendations on how to avoid this frustrating problem.

Storage of cleaning equipment is a hot topic within the food industry and quite rightly so! What are the best options available for you?

Finding the right Vikan squeegee for the right job helps you raise hygiene standards as well as boosting your employees’ job satisfaction.

What information is mandatory in a Declaration of Compliance (DoC)? The nine items you need in a DoC.

This blog emphasises the importance of developing, implementing, and maintaining the risk-based sanitation control programs and procedures necessary to ensure the production of safe high-quality foods.