The Sanitary Design Workshop, taking place at The Allerton Hotel in Chicago March 17-18, opened yesterday with a full slate of informational sessions, case studies, equipment analysis exercises and discussion—all with the collective aim of ushering in the new era of sanitary design, one that puts its tenets into the forefront of all food manufacturing success.

This annual workshop—with Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery as the exclusive media sponsor—is the result of strong collaboration across the snack and bakery industries, including:

• American Bakers Association
• AIB International
• American Society of Baking
• Biscuit & Cracker Manufacturers Association
• BEMA (Bakery Equipment Manufacturers and Allieds)
• Food Processing Suppliers Association
• National Confectioners Association
• National Pasta Association
• Snack Food Association

The event has gathered together representatives from across snack and baking, with bakers, snack manufacturers, ingredient suppliers, equipment manufacturers—most with direct responsibility for sanitation processes—and others in attendance, and industry leaders like General Mills, Kellogg Co., PepsiCo, MOM Brands, Kraft Foods and Nestlé leading presentations, outlining the best practices today in sanitary design. Topics covered yesterday and today have included:

• Sanitary design controls
• Hygienic intervention
• Sanitary design equipment, facilities, installation, maintenance
• Zoning control
• An FSMA update

Attendees have also analyzed various types of imperfect equipment as an exercise in honing an eye toward spotting potential flaws in sanitary design—and were provided with some new, state-of-the-art examples that raise the bar, OEM successes that align with today’s sanitation-forward mindset.

Watch www.snackandbakery.com for in-depth content stemming from this vital industry event in the coming days, including an exclusive series of videos featuring today’s leaders of sanitary design, equipment analysis and more.