Food Contact Compressed Air Point-of-Use FiltrationMarket Application PublicationQuick Study Guide for Food Market FiltersBackground Preventative food safety is at the forefront of awareness not only for food manufacturing facilities, but also for food retailers. This has led to the development and implementation of private industry food safety schemes that augment government regulations to manage this risk. The umbrella these food safety schemes fall under is the Global Food Safety Initiative - GFSI. The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) was established to increase consumer trust by improving food safety through corporate responsibility and safer food supply chains. GFSI, founded in 2000, is a nongovernment, non-profit foundation managed by The Consumer Goods Forum. SQF, BRC, FSSC2000 are all GFSI endorsed Food Safety Schemes. SQF, BRC, and FSSC are all voluntary food safety schemes that fall under the umbrella of the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI). The focus on these GFSI schemes is driven primarily by major retailers requiring the producers to be certified under one of the endorsed schemes. Simply, if the food company does not get the plant certified the retailers will not purchase from them. The USDA regulates raw meat and poultry processing. The FDA regulates all other foods that don't fall under USDA. Food producers need to comply with all US Government regulations and mandates for the governing agency under which their products fall. SQF, BRC, and FSSC 22000 are all non government, voluntary food safety schemes that are required by most food retailers. To obtain SQF, BRC, or FSSC22000 plants will contract with a consultant to prepare the plant for the certification audit. Then the food plant will employ a third-party certifying body to audit the plant on behalf of the certification agency (SQF, BRC, FSSC2200). Certifications are awarded by each individual plant - not by company. Good manufacturing practices are the foundation of safe food manufacturing. GMPs are the basic operational and environmental conditions required to produce safe foods. They ensure that ingredients, products and packaging materials are handled safely and that food products are processed in a suitable environment. Every food plant is different, however, there are some basic food safety principles that need to be applied to mitigate risk of food contamination. Anything contacting the food - or food contact surfaces - can be a risk. Where compressed air contacts food can be a risk. Compressed air is not as clean as it appears to be. Untreated compressed air contains many potentially harmful or dangerous contaminants that must be removed or reduced to acceptable levels in order to protect the consumer and provide a safe and cost-effective production facility. Along with the air bacteria get compressed and begin their journey through the compressed air system. Introducing this type of microbial contamination to food products is very risky and would be considered a lack of control by the facility. Understanding how to integrate the treatment of compressed air in a facility will help ward off that risk. ENGINEERING YOUR SUCCESS.

Food & Drug Administration (FDA) Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Title 21, Part 110.40 (g) “Compressed air or other gases mechanically introduced into food or used to clean food-contact surfaces or equipment shall be treated in such a way that food is not contaminated with unlawful indirect food additives”. BRC - British Retail Consortium: BRC Food Standard Version 8, section 4.5.2 states “Air and other gases used as an ingredient or that are in direct contact with products shall be monitored to ensure this does not represent a contamination risk. Compressed air that is in direct contact with...

3-Stage Compressed Air Filtration for Point-of-Use Areas When designing a compressed air system, use point-of-use filtration wherever compressed air comes in contact with the food — either directly or indirectly. Point-of-use filtration is the best line of defense against microbial contamination of food in a compressed air system. Even the best compressor room system filtration does not eliminate harborage sites and biofilm buildup in the downstream compressed air piping system. The following three stages of filtration will significantly reduce the risk of microbial contamination of the food....

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