EHEDG in eastern Europe

Abstract

Since the foundation of EHEDG in 1989, the guidelines of EHEDG have been accepted and applied by the food industry, equipment manufacturers, consultants, test institutes and authorities in all countries in western Europe. Although in 1989 EHEDG was a small organisation, supported by just a few, be it major, players in the food and equipment industry, currently EHEDG has Regional Sections in many western European countries, including Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Scandinavia, Spain and Switzerland. Some of these Sections exist for quite some time, others have been founded recently and are still under development. The guidelines of EHEDG are also appreciated outside Europe, resulting in a section in Japan and Thailand and the set up of an EHEDG test facility in the USA. Until recently, the only country in eastern Europe with a Regional EHEDG Section, was Poland. Although EHEDG does not make nor intends to make standards, many standards on the design of food processing equipment have been based to a significant extent on the guidelines developed by EHEDG. Often, members of EHEDG Subgroups were also members of the standardisation committees in Europe and elsewhere and helped developing the standards. Not so long ago, food processors had to meet legal requirements that differed between countries and consequently, companies had to manufacture several executions of pumps, valves and many other components, depending on the country of destination. Therefore, having the same guidelines and standards everywhere is of great importance to the food industry and its suppliers. Subgroups of EHEDG develop the guidelines and because the composition of these groups is usually multinational, the language that is used is English. The resulting guidelines therefore too, are in English. One of the main reasons for regional sections is the translation of the guidelines into local languages, recognising that those who need to apply the guidelines often have not the command of English to fully understand them. In addition, there is a need for training and education in hygienic food manufacturing and in designing hygienic machinery in local languages, which is not readily available. Half of the European population lives in the eastern part, where traditionally the command of English is less than in western Europe, for the simple reason that in the time of the Soviet Union, not English but Russian was the language of communication between countries. To make EHEDG guidelines and training material accessible to the eastern countries, in 2007 the executive committee of EHEDG decided to start activities, aimed at the creation of Regional Sections in more of the eastern countries. Another reason is that participation of eastern countries in EHEDG may offer significant benefits to EHEDG. During recent visits to food factories in eastern Europe, it became evident that the level of hygiene in many food factories in eastern Europe is at least at the same level as in western Europe and in several cases possibly even at a higher level. It certainly applies to some slaughterhouses in Serbia and a very large beer factory in Kiev. It is with great interest that I look forward to seeing more food factories in the eastern part of Europe.