Protecting Food Processing Plants With Polyurea
With news of more food processing facilities pulling items off the shelves and being momentarily shuttered due to possible contamination from Listeria Monocytogenes, the issue of plant sanitation, along with design and building, are at the forefront.
At issue are food and meat processing plants in aging industrial structures with numerous nooks and crannies, along with right-angled construction. In these plants, walls and ceilings are often developed with angled steel, i-beams, concrete block, interlocking metal and fiberglass panels, double-t ceilings, and tiles, including concrete grout.
This provides a virtual breeding ground for standing water, dirt, dust, mold, and pathogens such as Listeria, E. Coli, and Salmonella. With so many cracks, pits, and seams, plants are at danger, notwithstanding aggressive power washing and chemical sanitation methods.
Plant Recalls from Listeria
The fallout from a public recall due to Listeria extends well beyond the lost income from a prolonged shutdown and inventory loss. Litigation, due to customer disease and even death, and the devastating influence on the brand name's name can put a food processor out of business.
On April 20th, 2015, Blue Bell Creameries had all of its products on the marketplace made at all of its facilities, including ice cream, frozen yogurt, sherbet, and frozen snacks taken off the shelves due to possible contamination from Listeria. According to the CDC web site's info, 10 individuals with Listeriosis related to this outbreak were confirmed from 4 states, with three deaths reported.
The problem with Listeria is that it is proficient at averting detection. It can aerosolize or attach to equipment and individuals and will flourish in cold temperature levels. As a result, it isn't easy to control in the processing environment. Numerous facilities rely on a robust sanitation program to prevent Listeria from going into or polluting the environment to combat this pathogen. Also, many processors engage in continuous environmental tasting programs to keep an eye on the effectiveness of those efforts.
If any bacteria or contamination is spotted, called "testing hot," it can lead to an instant shutdown. Shutting down a food processing plant running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week can cost the processor millions in lost revenues. There is also the danger of fines by the USDA for recurring offenses.
In the majority of circumstances, companies respond to a positive test by performing heightened cleaning and sanitization. Once the business's follow-up sampling of the impacted sites is unfavorable, the problem is normally resolved.
In addition to concerns about bacteria, contamination likewise originates from center upkeep concerns, such as chipping paint, spalled and cracked concrete, and locations in the walls and ceilings that can gather dust, dirt, mold, and other impurities.
Perpetual Cleaning, Painting
Till now, the expensive and heavy labor option was to clean up regularly and reduce the issues using FRP panels or layer upon layer of paint to attempt to produce a cleanable surface area.
However, the aggressive cleaning agents like bleach and cleaning agents and heavy high-pressure power washing cycles take a heavy toll on the paints, epoxies, concrete, fiberglass, and metal surfaces ultimately use them away till they need a complete replacement, or even worse, they threaten a plant shutdown and or fines.
This is an extremely costly, labor-intensive program that repeats itself in perpetuity at practically every food processing plant across the country.
To resolve this issue, newly patented methods are being used to deliver a complete rehabilitation of the walls and ceilings, often throughout planned upkeep weekends.
At the leading edge is ArmorThane, a Springfield MO based company that performs this kind of work for a wide range of companies. ArmorThane delivers a monolithic liner that eliminates all existing chips, seams, and spaces.
Additionally, area is "improved" through this process, so only smooth, curved lines remain to get rid of locations where water, dirt, grime, or pathogens can collect.
Among ArmorThanes process's crucial elements is the application of an extremely quick treating, pure polyurea coating created for usage in food processing plants. The material is spray applied; it can be used rapidly by qualified applicators and built up to any required thickness, and shaped into the customized wall and ceiling design. According to Froese, polyurea is the only coating system offered to create a monolithic surface area in the short time frame required to decrease plant downtime.
"Most other finishes take 1-4 days to cure, which is too long when you need to get the plant back online. Polyurea cures within minutes."
-- Garry Froese, CEO, of ArmorThane USA Inc.
Before any coatings are used, there are several actions to restore an aging food facility., No amount of cleansing will properly prepare a surface that requires repair. So the initial step is to address any locations with spalled or split concrete, cracking and peeling paint, or heavy deterioration.
The next action is an intensive cleaning procedure to remove grease and grime and other surface pollutants that build-up due to meat processing, cooking, and general facility upkeep. This includes using specifically approved wash down solutions and self-contained high powered water blasting techniques. Then all holes, voids, joints, and penetrations are filled, in addition to extra reshaping modifications. For instance, a mix of concrete and molded foam materials are used to shift any flat surfaces from 90 degrees to 45 degrees to prevent standing water from collecting.
These locations typically include the cove joint from wall to floor, steel I beam bases, welded and frame bolted angle iron and spaces in the existing building, and construction or wall/ceiling fascia. Standing water is among the many contributing factors for Listeria and other pathogens, in addition to mold and rust. Finally, every tool, pipe, flooring, and other exposed locations need to be covered in plastic or covered before spraying starts.
ArmorThane also pays special attention to ensure the best monolithic liner is used, so the result is cosmetically enticing.
In many applications, such as the within big tanks, sprayed polyurea is not needed to be cosmetically appealing," describes Froese., "With a processing plant, everything must be trimmed out, and the polyurea used very evenly, so the plant has a great, clean look."
For food processors in aging facilities, this kind of complete interior wall and ceiling rehab-- regardless of the surface or substrate and level of disrepair-- might be the quickest way to break the cycle of continuous deterioration and ongoing repair while decreasing the threat of pathogen-based product remembers.
Call ArmorThane today to find out more about their coating products.
