Open equipment is widely used in the food industry and is involved in the manufacture of various types of products, including perishable food products with significant risks of microbiological contamination. Fresh cut, ready meals and other ready-to-eat refrigerated products, which are gaining more and more in popularity among consumers, are, for example, mostly manufactured in open production lines.

The new EHEDG Doc.13 focuses on design criteria for equipment used in wet-cleaned, open food-processing areas and details and illustrates how the hygienic design criteria presented in EHEDG Document 8 can be applied to open equipment.