Issue View | Council I | 2018 Biennial Meeting

This is a brand new Issue.

CIP 2 - ANSI/Food Code definition

At the 2016 biennial meeting a Clean in Place (CIP) Committee was formed to expand on the work begun by the 2014 - 2016 Ice Maker Equipment Cleaning and Sanitizing Committee, but with a broader focus to include all food equipment known to have designs that depend upon clean in place processes for safety yet do not allow for easy inspection, cleaning and sanitizing access of its food contact surfaces.

The charges were:

1 Review applicable American National Standards Institute (ANSI) sanitation standards for CIP processes with inaccessible food contact surfaces and ascertain their compatibility with Food Code definitions and recommendations;

2. Review current literature on scientific research of clean in place systems to ascertain relative food safety risk associated with improperly cleaned and/ or sanitized systems;

3. A Survey to determine the current prevalence and processes used to evaluate CIP Equipment during inspections; and

4. Report back to the 2018 CFP Biennial Meeting with recommendations.

There were several definitions that were different between the ANSI standards and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Food Code. This issue requests that those differences be addressed by NSF.

Different definitions or variation in terminology between ANSI standards and the Food Code can lead to confusion on the part of operators and regulators and inconsistent or variable enforcement and inspections on the part of inspectors. This variability can lead to inconsistent food safety practices which are a public health risk. Aligning the definitions and terminology can reduce that risk.

A letter be sent to National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) requesting that NSF:

1. Initiate the consensus process to change "in place cleaning" to the more commonly used "Clean in Place (CIP)" which would also align with the Food Code.
2. Include the same specific exclusionary language: "CIP does not include the cleaning of EQUIPMENT such as band saws, slicers, or mixers that are subjected to in-place manual cleaning without the use of a CIP system." used by the Food Code in its definition of CIP into the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) definition, as follows: