6th January 2025

Food Manufacturing Hygiene challenges for UK businesses

Coping with the 3 safety-critical cleaning & hygiene challenge areas for UK food manufacturing

It has, arguably, never been as critical to maintain stringent cleaning, hygiene and associated safety standards in UK food manufacturing. While the essentials of food production hygiene have not changed, several factors have heightened the focus on how food manufacturing and management facilities, people and production are kept clean and safe.

Keeping facilities hygienically clean

The pandemic brought the issue of infection control firmly front of mind for business and safety inspectors alike. There is an inextricable connection between people and production hygiene. Hand hygiene, the potential for person-to-person transmission, and the surface survival of viral agents without appropriate cleansing were something everyone became increasingly aware of with COVID. As we write this in late 2024, H1N1 is already a known challenge, the spectre of H5N5 lurks in the poultry supply chain driving UK chicken culling, and government is preparing 5M doses of H5N1 bird flu vaccines.

When it comes to assuring absolute cleanliness and hygiene in your food production facility, this is no time to take chances or cut corners.

Protecting and educating people

People are one of the major vectors not just for viral transmission but also bacterial – making staff hand hygiene, correct use of protective gear, and hygienic behaviour training absolutely critical. Maintaining training routines, and sustaining standards are a challenge in a sector which is grappling with significant workforce recruitment and retention challenges, characterised by high turnover rates and difficulties in attracting workers. Post-Brexit immigration policies have restricted the flow of EU labour, and many non-British workers returned home in the wake of the pandemic. This is only intensified by an ageing workforce and emerging reluctance of some young people to enter employment.

It is becoming a true strategic challenge to ensure everyone in production places are trained in how to work safely, as well as equipped to do so.

Ensuring production lines and equipment are safe

Production equipment and environments must be continually kept hygienically clean, which means a laserlike focus on avoiding cross-contamination of all kinds. Effective cleaning systems and routines are essential for every surface and every piece of equipment – which itself can be a source of cross-contact hygiene issues if not scrupulously clean. The correct chemicals for every surface and purpose matters, as does the correct use of those chemicals.

Of growing concern are allergen controls and effective cleaning to remove allergen residues or cross-contact across product lines are vital. This is to reduce any risk to consumers – but also to the business. The impact of an allergen issue can have devastating impacts on a food brand or food retailer’s reputation.

Effective cleaning in food processing environments requires the right equipment, cleaning products, and the right cleaning and hygiene strategy.

Avanti has deep and direct experience in food manufacturing and food factory hygiene and can advise and support customers on creating effective cleaning and hygiene supply strategies and models. By supporting customers to maintain clean places, protected people and hygienic production, we are a true food production partner. Read more on our food production hygiene page.

Check out these examples of our products to support each area of your food production business – find many more on our online store.