As the industry continues to innovate, the focus on hygienic food production is expected to remain a top priority for stakeholders across the food supply chain, especially in food processing facilities that handle products such as ready-to-eat meals, fresh produce, seafood, dairy products and baked goods. These items are susceptible to contamination and require extra precautions to maintain their safety and quality. 

High care rooms, also known as high-risk or high-care areas, are specialised environments within food production facilities dedicated to handling and processing these sensitive or high-risk food products. These areas are designed to minimise the risk of contamination and ensure the safety and quality of the finished food product. They are comparable in many ways to cleanrooms, as known from the pharmaceutical and electronic industries. With a long history of cleanroom standards and guidelines, there is much we can learn from these industries related to the design, construction and start-up of these controlled environments. 

The recent ISO 14644-4:2022 document, ‘Cleanrooms and Associated Controlled Environments Part 4: Design, Construction, and Start-Up’, is an internationally recognised standard that provides guidelines and requirements for the design, construction and start-up of cleanrooms and associated controlled environments. This presentation will explain the systematic approach to creating an environment that suits the needs of the product.