Cleanroom Wipers in the Food-Processing Industry

HACCP or Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points 

Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points and several Quality Management systems on a European level, food hygiene, and food safety have increased in importance over the years.

There are a few questions that we need to answer: 

However, what about the use of cleaning wipers in the food processing industry?

Does it make sense to choose disposable cleanroom wipers?

It is certainly not always necessary but there are controlled areas with sensitive products and special production procedures, which might necessitate the use of cleanroom wipers.

For more than 50 years cleanroom wipers have been indispensable for use in any type of controlled area. Starting with the microelectronic industry, followed by medical device manufacturing and the pharmaceutical industry continuing up to cytotoxic manufacturing pharmacies and hospitals. For cleaning and disinfecting they all need wipers, specially designed to avoid generating additional contaminations.

For the food processing industry it would be enough in many cases to use re-usable cleaning wipes but for the manufacturing of special more sensitive food products, e.g. baby food, the use of disposable wipers with a higher cleanliness level can be more effective and, above all, at the end be safer for the consumers HACCP procedures create appropriate conditions of production, after running a risk analysis. This includes, among others, using the best effective cleaning method.

Even though the regulations for food processing and pharmaceutical production areas are different, they all still have the same basic idea: the greatest possible consumer protection.

An important help to select appropriate products could be the list of the NSF. The NSF (National Sanitation Foundation) is an independent international organization, founded in the USA and world-leading in product certification for food safety.

Texwipe has two products listed in the NSF - White Book™ for use in food manufacturing areas:

The PolySat® Wiper TX8723 is made of polypropylene and pre-saturated with a solution of 70% isopropyl alcohol and 30% deionized water. It has certification for the general cleaning of surfaces.

In addition, most recently, the NSF included the TechiScrub™ Wiper (TX4409/TX4412); the NSF certified this as a dry polyester/cellulose wiper with special features. Constructed from 50% polyester and 50% cellulose TechniScrub™ shows a unique design with a textured side for removing deposits and a smooth side for follow-up wiping and cleaning. This and the high sorption level make this wiper versatile and suitable for the food processing industry.