Food processing facility sanitation is an integral part of good manufacturing practices.
Effective sanitation aids in ensuring the wholesomeness, safety, and quality of shell
eggs. The negative impacts on food safety and egg quality are a result of microbial growth.
Research has shown that ineffective cleaning and sanitation practices
or programs can lead to reduced quality duration or potential product contamination.
Residual microorganisms can lead to egg spoilage or food-borne illness.
Most of this training series will focus on the United States Department of Agriculture
Agricultural Marketing Service pre-operational sanitation inspection expectations. However,
remember that the Food and Drug Administration has oversight of consumer shell eggs in the United
States as stated in 21 CFR 117. Additionally, customers accrediting organizations such as Safe
Quality Food, British Retail Consortium Global Standard and others, as well as state and local
regulatory agencies, may have additional facility sanitation expectations that can impact your
facility. AMS sanitation requirements are meant to protect the integrity of the USDA grade mark
by requiring additional sanitation expectations at facilities that utilize AMS voluntary grading
services. To meet these goals, AMS inspectors will assess for voluntary grading program requirements
during the pre-operational sanitation inspection and throughout processing operations by utilizing
organoleptic inspection assessments. While AMS may review microbial test results as part of certain
export programs, AMS does not conduct nor require swapping or biological testing during routine
sanitation assessments. So what is organoleptic inspection? Organoleptic inspection assessments
include sight, smell, and touch. However, microbial growth will not always be seen,
smelled, or felt. Critical areas are defined as equipment with potential surface contact
with eggs or come in contact with wash water or air blown to dry the eggs. Non-critical areas
are defined as areas that are not likely to imminently affect product quality. Non-critical
does not mean it is not important. Non-critical unsatisfactory conditions should be addressed
after the processing line has been started unless unable to safely do so during processing. In this
module, the critical and non-critical areas of multi-drum orienter, egg weighing systems, and egg
transfer systems will be identified and discussed. Additionally, examples will be used to illustrate
the satisfactory and unsatisfactory condition of various components associated with each system.
Egg processing facilities shall be thoroughly cleaned at the end of each operating day.
The term reasonably clean is applied during the egg processing shift to indicate that equipment
and processing areas are maintained with minimum egg meat accumulation.
More explanation of these terms is presented in the introduction module.
Specific manufacturers will be mentioned merely to highlight varying multi-drum,
weighing, and egg transfer systems and how these systems are addressed during pre-operational
sanitation inspections. All portions of the multi-drum, weighing, and egg transfer systems
must be cleaned each day prior to processing and accessible for assessment during pre-operational
sanitation inspection. A plant employee opens the system in this video. USDA AMS graders should be
aware of the access and viewpoints for the different egg transfer and weighing systems
to properly assess equipment cleanliness. The MOBA multi-drum located along the grading line
uses mechanical grippers to orient all eggs with the small end facing the same direction.
The multi-drum may also serve to remove under-grade eggs from the processing line.
For more information, view the egg removal systems module. The critical components of the multi-drum
are the egg contact surfaces of the individual egg grippers. The non-critical components include the
gripper mounting hardware behind the grippers as well as the unit housing and door panels.
There are two types of scales utilized in egg processing equipment. Eggs either roll over
scales or are suspended in grippers and weighed from above. On Diamond and Sanovo graders,
eggs roll over the scales. On these systems, the majority of the scale components are beneath the
processing line. The scale cradle or load cell is visible on the processing line level. While the
scales are located within the transporter area of the Sanovo machines, on Diamond equipment
they are traditionally found directly after the check detectors. The individual scales,
pushers, and rails are the critical components of weighing systems due to direct egg contact.
Most MOBA graders use grippers that hang under the load cells for weighing.
On these systems, the polymer grippers are the only critical component of the weigh system.
This system is located in a cabinet just before the transfer.
Additional mounting and structural hardware or wiring components are non-critical.
The transfer systems located at the junction of the grading machine and the packing lanes
use any combination of chains, lifters, and inserters to move eggs from the
processing line to the carriage systems that transport the eggs to the packing lanes.
Egg transfer systems can be constructed of either metal or polymer and are manually cleaned.
Manual cleaning can be challenging due to wiring and circuitry, but equipment can still
be thoroughly cleaned. USDA AMS graders should not assume that a particular model of processing line
will have the same capabilities and technology and should familiarize themselves with each
particular machine before beginning pre-operational sanitation inspections.
Regardless of the technology present, all transfer systems should be thoroughly cleaned each day.
The portions of the egg transfer system which come in direct contact with the egg
are critical. This would include: for Diamond systems--pushers, egg rail, scale, star wheel,
stabilizer perch, movable perch, and pickup bar; for Sanovo systems--pushers,
egg rail, scale, transport chain, and insert set; for MOBA systems--the lifter.
The non-critical portions of the transfer system include:
for Diamond systems--side panels and structural framing, chains, cogs, and drip pan;
for Sanovo systems--chains, guides, and framing; for MOBA systems--framing,
drive, non-contact areas of lifter, and non-contact rods that lifters are mounted upon.
The multi-drum on this MOBA grader is appropriately opened and ready for assessment. The
critical egg grippers and non-critical mounting hardware are thoroughly cleaned and satisfactory.
Looking at the interior of the raised access panel, there is a modest amount of eggshell
left after previous cleanings. While moderate amounts of eggshell would be unacceptable.
This small amount of residual eggshell would not be cause for an unsatisfactory finding.
Therefore this is also an example of satisfactory non-critical components of the multi-drum.
Residual eggshell and egg meat remaining on the critical grippers of the multi-drum
is unacceptable. This is an example of an unsatisfactory critical finding.
Again, access panels have been appropriately removed for pre-operational assessment of the
non-critical components of the multi-drum. The wiring, structural components,
as well as bearings and chains seen here are all satisfactory in non-critical areas. Only
small amounts of grime and debris should be found on wiring and surface panels. While
bearings and other mechanical components require lubrication, excessive grease is not appropriate.
Here we see a scale system on a Sanovo grading machine. The scales are in the middle of a rail
system on each side. Both the critical rail and scale are satisfactorily clean.
A closer view of the individual scales on the left shows a thorough cleaning was completed, and these
are satisfactory critical areas. On the right, we see egg meat and shells remain on the scales,
and this is an unsatisfactory critical finding and should be corrected before processing begins.
This is a shot of the underside of the scales and stabilizer perch just before the transfer area.
The buildup of egg on the stabilizer perch would cause this to be a critical
unsatisfactory finding which must be addressed before production can begin. Furthermore,
the excessive amount of egg meat on the scales and framing should also be addressed.
While this is a non-critical area, as cleaning of the critical area is taking place,
the non-critical aspects should also be addressed before production can begin.
Looking at the opposite side of the egg scale grippers, we see egg meat that remains
on the non-contact portion of the gripper and structural bracing of the egg weighing system.
This is a non-critical unsatisfactory finding. Here we are looking at the additional non-contact,
non-critical portions of the egg weighing system. We observe some of the wiring, metal conduit,
and red structural bracing has buildup of grime and debris. Additionally, we see the
brass plumbing has corrosion. This modest amount of corrosion and grime would still be considered
satisfactory on non-critical components. However, if additional amounts of buildup were to occur,
this would become an unsatisfactory non-critical finding. These MOBA egg scale grippers have
buildup of egg meat and residue that has not been removed during cleaning and remains attached
to the surfaces. This is an unsatisfactory finding of the critical egg scale grippers.
Here the MOBA egg scale grippers have been sufficiently clean. These would be satisfactory.
Both Diamond and Sanovo systems use pusher rods to move eggs over the scales and
into the transfer system. The Diamond pushers seen on the left
and Sanovo as seen on the right have residual egg meat on the critical
contact surfaces. Both of these images show unsatisfactory conditions on critical components.
Here we see most of the critical transfer components of Diamond systems,
including pusher bar, star wheel, stabilizer perches, movable perches, and pickup bar.
All of these components have been satisfactorily clean. By the support bar on the left hand side,
we can see the equipment wear and missing paint.
The missing paint in this area should not be considered an unsatisfactory finding. This is
a great example of older equipment that has been well maintained and thoroughly cleaned.
In this similar view of a Diamond transfer area, we see that while all the critical contact
components have been thoroughly cleaned, the non-critical areas of the drip pan and framing
behind the chain have eggs and egg meat that have not been cleaned. This is an unsatisfactory
finding on non-critical components. Critical egg contact items within the transfer system,
such as this pickup bar on a Diamond machine, must be cleaned before operations can begin.
The residual egg meat seen here is an unsatisfactory finding in a critical area.
This is the lifters of a MOBA transfer system. Both the critical egg contact
areas and non-critical arms and mounts are all thoroughly cleaned and satisfactory.
However, on this transfer area, egg residue has not been appropriately removed from contact and
non-contact components of the lifters. This would be a critical unsatisfactory finding
and must be corrected before operations begin. On this view of Sanovo transfer
area, we see that the critical lifters and transfer chain are satisfactorily clean.
This is an unsatisfactory example of the critical components on the Sanovo transfer system.
There is residual egg meat on the transport chain and insert set that was not appropriately cleaned.
This should be corrected before operations begin. There are many styles and configurations for egg
transfer systems. It is important to familiarize yourself with each egg processing system you
encounter to ensure all egg transfer systems are evaluated before processing begins each
day. Keep in mind in any system egg contact areas and associated components are critical.