Hello everyone!
I am recently employed as a Food Tech at a engineering company that makes packaging machines (i.e. tray/box forming and sealing).
Some Details:
The packaging machines do not have food-contact surfaces. Part of the box/tray forming process sometimes involves a component coming into contact with the interior of the tray/box; the interior of the tray/box can become a food contact surface such as those trays holding fresh produce at the grocery store. Thus, our manuals provide a cautionary notice to clean this component, as necessary. I would say the machines are not a high risk as they mainly get dusty (from the corrugate boxes), only handle packaging materials, and thus generally do not accumulate with food soil. We recommend vacuuming, and cleaning/sanitizing with a cloth -- the machines are not designed for a full washed down as there are aluminium parts, and electrical control boxes that are not water-tight.
Question:
Recently, a Canadian customer made a request for a food safe certificate. Correct me if I am wrong, but It is my understanding that machines with non-food contact surfaces and that are not directly in food processing areas are exempt from or are more lenient in certain regulations. Also, a colleague tells me the CFIA (equivalent of FDA) issues an approval number for machines concerned with food-contact surfaces. My question is if there are such approvals or 'food-safe certificates' for machines concerning non-food contact surfaces (for Canada or USA)?
Thank you in advance.
