The theme of this year’s Sanitary Design Workshop is “Equipment and Plant Design for Allergen/Pathogen Control in Low-Moisture Foods,” and the event will be held March 29–30 at The Warwick Allerton Hotel in Chicago. Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery is the exclusive media partner of the event.

The workshop is intended for engineers, sanitarians and plant managers from equipment manufacturers; bakers, snack food producers and pasta makers; and other low-moisture food producers. According to the event organizers, attendees will come away with practical and proven approaches to cleaning, sanitary design, equipment layout and personnel requirements that use verifiable, economically sound processes supported by Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point guidelines.

The day-and-a-half-long educational opportunity will feature presentations by representatives from leading companies and organizations, including The Bama Cos., Campbell Soup Co., ConAgra Foods, Commercial Food Sanitation, General Mills, Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA), Kellogg Co., Kraft Heinz Co., Land O’Lakes, MOM Brands, Nestle, PMMI—The Association of Packaging and Processing Technologies, PepsiCo and Rich Products.

Workshop content will include:

• Equipment design demonstrations using prototypes and photos
• Case studies reviewing applications in the field
• Hands-on demonstrations
• Discussion of what the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) means for sanitary design
• The GMA Principles of Design checklist
• A toolkit for equipment and plant design

The workshop begins both days with breakfast at 7 a.m. in the Frank Lloyd Wright room, followed by a general session at 8 a.m. One breakout session will also be held each morning.

On March 29, the morning general session presentations include “Introduction to Controls for Pathogens and Allergens,” “Hygienic Intervention,” “Sanitary Design Principles—--Equipment,” “Risk Remediation Case Study” and “Equipment Design Review.” Presentations during the afternoon general session, which begins at 1 p.m., are “Sanitary Design Principles—Facilities,” “Zoning Control,” “Sanitary Design Principles—Installation,” “Sanitary Design Principles—Maintenance,” “Sanitary Design Early Management” and “Equipment Success (OEMs).”

The March 30 general session presentations are “Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Update,” “Sanitation Controls,” “Water Control” and “SSOP Development.” Breakout reports are slated for 11:15 a.m., with the workshop concluding at noon.

The Sanitary Design Workshop is sponsored by a consortium of leading associations serving snack and bakery:

• American Bakers Association (ABA)
• AIB International
• American Society of Baking (ASB)
• Biscuit & Cracker Manufacturers Association (B&CMA)
• 
Bakery Equipment Manufacturers and Allieds (BEMA)
• Food Processing Suppliers Association (FSPA)
• National Confectioners Association (NCA)
• National Pasta Association (NPA)
• Snack Food Association (SFA)

Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery will provide pre- and post-workshop coverage of the event, and report live during the event, including video interviews with workshop presenters and organizers. The Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery Sanitary Design Workshop page, at www.snackandbakery.com/sanitary-design-workshop, will be home to a wide variety of content related to the event over the coming months.

For complete details about the workshop and to register, visit www.sanitarydesignworkshop.org.