Surface treatments and coatings: a solution for fouling and biofilms?

Proper hygiene in the production area is essential in the food industry. But despite optimised and often rigorous cleaning and disinfecting methods, food residue often remains, causing layers of deposits to form on surfaces (fouling). This occurs even on easy to clean materials such as stainless steel. This fouling not only leads to higher energy costs, increased water consumption and more food waste, it also provides the perfect breeding ground for micro-organisms, in the form of biofilms, to grow. These biofilms can become a persistent source of contamination that is very difficult if not impossible to remove with standard cleaning or disinfecting methods. So there is a high demand from the industry for new types of stainless steel that minimises or completely eliminates the risk of fouling or biofilm formation on production equipment.  

During the CLEANSURFACE project, an overview was compiled of the different coatings and surface treatments for stainless steel that are permitted in the food industry and that have anti-adhesive properties. They were tested on their adhesive properties and cleaning possibilities. This booklet provides a brief summary of the problems and the results.