Food and pharmaceutical industries come together

A Total Processing and Packaging product story

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Feb 24, 2004

Encouraging greater liaison between the food and beverage and pharmaceutical industries will be one of the main goals of the Total Pharma Centre of Excellence at Total Processing and Packaging 2004.

Encouraging greater liaison between the food and beverage and pharmaceutical industries will be one of the main goals of the Total Pharma Centre of Excellence at Total Processing and Packaging 2004.

The need to ensure maximum product quality and safety is common to both the pharmaceutical and food industries.

Companies in both sectors often share the same manufacturing processes, particularly for hygienic manufacturing and treatment applications.

In many cases, the sharing of technology and expertise between the two sectors could help them greatly reduce the time and cost associated with developing and implementing new production processes.

The Total Pharma Centre of Excellence Seminar Theatre will be hosting two seminars on 1st April explaining the opportunities for greater collaboration between the food and pharmaceutical sectors.

The first seminar, entitled "Hygienic design standards for the food and pharmaceutical industries", will be hosted by the European Hygienic Engineering Design Group (EHEDG).

The seminar will explain how many of the equipment standards developed by the EHEDG for food industry applications can be readily applied to the pharmaceutical industry.

"The pharmaceutical industry has often overengineered certain processes when suitable solutions have already existed in the food industry which could have been applied equally as well and often at much less cost", says Roger Trew, European Development Advisor for the International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE).

This point will be further emphasised in the second seminar, entitled "Cross-industry fertilisation works".

Real-life examples will be used to demonstrate how many of the same production solutions are already being employed to equal effect in both the food and pharmaceutical industries.

By incorporating these seminars within the Total Pharma Centre of Excellence, Total will provide a forum for the exchange of expertise between the pharmaceutical and food and beverage industries.

"The issues of hygiene, product quality and customer safety are major concerns facing both the pharmaceutical and food processing companies", says Maggie Duke-Rohner, President of the European Hygienic Engineering and Design Group and Quality Advisor for Nestle.

"Our industries have actually been learning from one another for years.

What we have lacked until now is a concerted, formalised effort to bring together our collective resources and expertise to establish common benchmarks that will help us to ensure that we are safeguarding the welfare of our customers".

"Any move towards greater liaison needs to be driven by the food and pharmaceutical industries and should involve a diverse range of groups, all of which have an interest in the sharing of expertise and resources", says Barbara Jackson, Exhibition Director, Reed Exhibitions.

"Our seminars are open to anyone with an interest in greater collaboration, such as pharmaceutical food and drinks manufacturers, equipment suppliers, working groups, regulatory bodies and trade associations".

The two seminars form part of a comprehensive programme dedicated to exploring the latest issues facing the pharmaceutical sector.

Organised by the International Society of Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE) and sponsored by MY Healthcare, the PPMA and Manufacturing Chemist and Cleanroom Technology, the seminar programme is free to anyone wishing to attend.