The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) estimates that 48 million people will experience some form of foodborne illness each year. When linked to food processing, these outbreaks can result in costly plant shutdowns and lost revenue. As a preventive measure, the FDA developed the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) detailing safety guidelines referred to as Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP). Although the HACCPs have yielded significant improvements overall, they fall short when it comes to establishing hygienic air standards. Even the most recent FSMA updates offer only broad recommendations on processing room temperature, humidity, and filtration best practices that are lumped into broader preventive control guidelines.
Although the benefits of indoor air quality (IAQ) and building ventilation are well known, methods for managing food processing room airflow have largely remained unchanged for decades. Currently, many facilities rely on ceiling-hung evaporators because of their ability to effectively control temperature and humidity. Although these units are often compliant in meeting the minimum HACCP requirements, they are unable to establish and maintain truly hygienic air that is necessary to ensure sanitary food processing protocols.