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The European Hygienic Engineering & Design Group (EHEDG) was founded in 1989 as a non-profit consortium of: equipment manufacturers, food producers, suppliers to the food industry, research institutes and universities, public health authorities and governmental organizations.
The principal goal of EHEDG is the promotion of safe food by improving hygienic engineering and design in all aspects of food manufacture. EHEDG actively supports European legislation, which requires that handling, preparation processing and packaging of food is done hygienically using hygienic machinery and in hygienic premises according to the food hygiene directive, the machinery directive and the food contact materials directive (see: EC Directive 2006/42/EC for Machinery, EN 1672-2 and EN ISO 14159 on Hygiene requirements for the design of machinery).
The Regional Sections are a local extension of the EHEDG and are created to promote hygienic manufacturing of food through their activities within a country or a geographical cluster. EHEDG has established Regional Sections in various countries in Europe and overseas.
Assurance of quality and safety is an essential need for the continued good reputation of foodstuffs. The correct hygienic design and maintenance of food production systems is considered as a prerequisite to fulfill these requirements. In order to offer help to the industry in these questions, EHEDG so far has developed and published 49 practical guidance documents on adequate hygienic design in different areas of food production equipment and machinery, as well as on the food manufacturing infrastructure.
Within EHEDG, a number of several hundred international experts from food industries, food equipment manufacturers and academia are gathering in the Working Groups to share their bulk know-how. These expert teams are responsible for the development of the EHEDG Guidelines. Each Working Group is responsible for an area of expertise, and within each area certain specific scopes are defined as follows: 1. Air Handling; 2. Bakery Equipment; 3. Building Design; 4. Certification; 5. Cleaning & Disinfection; 6. Cleaning in Place; 7. Cleaning Validation; 8. Conveyor Systems; 9. Design Principles; 10. Dry Materials Handling; 11. Fish Processing Equipment; 12. Food Refrigeration; 13. Foreign Bodies; 14. Heat Treatment; 15. Hygienic Integration Systems; 16. Lubricants; 18. Materials of Construction; 19. Meat Processing; 20. Mechanical Seals; 21. Packaging Machines; 22. Pumps, Homogenizers and Dampening Devices; 23. Seals; 24. Sensors; 26. Separators; 27. Tank Cleaning; 28. Training & Education; 29. Valves; 30. Water Management and 31. Welding.
Equipment testing and certification developed and carried out in various authorized EHEDG Authorized Testing Laboratories (ATLs) with their affiliated Authorized Evaluation Officers (AEOs) is setting recognized quality standards. EHEDG Certification is for by manufacturers who are aiming to design equipment in accordance with the highest hygienic requirements. Certification is important to equipment suppliers and food manufacturers.
In order to achieve an acceptable safety and quality of foodstuffs, training and education in hygienic engineering and design is required for all levels of employees in organizations concerned with the provision, maintenance and operation of food manufacturing systems. The EHEDG training program provides the basis for a common European education, understanding and qualification in hygienic design.
KEY's Role in EHEDG
Consulting and Training Centre KEY is the EHEDG Macedonian Regional Section headquarters since 2010.
KEY was the organizer of the First EHEDG World Congress in Hygienic Engineering and Design, which took place in Ohrid, Macedonia, from 21 – 25 September, 2011. “New Food” declared this event as a World Summit of Hygienic Design expertise, where over 230 participants, from 31 countries worldwide, exchanged their expertise, new developments and innovations in this area.
Alongside the World Congress, KEY founded the Journal of Hygienic Engineering and Design, becoming an electronic Journal in 2012. JHED is unique and so far the only worldwide open access Journal dedicated as a platform for industry, expert and scientific communities, and consumers, in following fields:
1. Hygienic Engineering and Design
2. Food Quality and Safety and
3. Food Production and Processing
JHED is a regular source of information for more than 35,000 officially registered readers coming from more than 1,500 companies worldwide and many universities, research centers and associations. JHED is also indexed in many scientific databases, the latest being SCOPUS.
Speaking about the members of the EHEDG Macedonian Regional section, they are participating in mainly 2 Working Groups: Building Design and Training and Education.
Being an EHEDG member, and participating in its work, has multiple benefits. The EHEDG Macedonian Regional Section has 12 members coming from food industry, academia and research. These members can participate in various EHEDG Subgroups, according to their preferences. So far, the EHEDG Macedonian members are involved in 2 subgroups: 1. Building Design and 2. Training and Education. Also, they have discounts when are participating at any EHEDG event, with institute and company members being able to download all guidelines free of charge.
During the EHEDG Congress in Denmark (2 – 3 November 2016) Prof. Dr Vladimir Kakurinov, the EHEDG Macedonian Regional Section Chairman was awarded with the EHEDG Merit Award by EHEDG International, for outstanding commitment and distinguished services for the contribution in Hygienic Design and Food Quality & Safety development.
The Black Sea Association of Food science and Technology (B-FoST) is an international non-profit network of individual scientists and scientific organizations from the countries around the Black Sea area and its neighboring countries.
B-FoST is working in the field of fundamental and applied food science, research and development, innovative technology, food ingredients, novel trends in nutrition and health, food technology and engineering, food safety and quality, food and feed market.
The main goal of this organization is to provide a common platform for food scientists, researchers, technologists, producers and nutritionists, young scientists and students for: research and finding solutions for common problems in food safety and quality, dissemination of research results within and across international borders and promote the use of innovative food safety technologies around the globe, as well as common projects for development, innovation and education within food science and technology.
KEY's Role in B-FoST
Consulting and Training Center KEY’s Prof. Dr Vladimir Kakurinov is one of the founders of B-FoST.
KEY was the organizer of the First Black Sea Association of Food science and Technology (B-FoST) Congress that took place in Ohrid, Macedonia from 22-24 September, 2016. This Congress provided 41 presentations, 43 posters and 51 full papers, covering 22 major food areas. This scope of work provided a multidisciplinary forum in all fields of food science and technology, where 200 participants, from 36 countries worldwide, exchanged their experiences, new developments and innovations in this area.
The Journal of Hygienic Engineering and Design (JHED – www.jhed.mk) is the official B-FoST Journal, providing all participants an electronic, open-access platform where they can publish their papers, as a journal indexed in numerous scientific databases, including SCOPUS.
Global Harmonization Initiative (GHI) is a network of individual scientists and scientific organizations working together to promote harmonization of global food safety regulations and legislation through sound science.
In order to build consensus among scientists on global harmonization of food safety regulations, GHI organizes scientific working groups, member meetings, workshops and symposia to further its collaborative work and provide educational outreach to key stakeholders. At the core of the GHI strategy are its Working Groups (WGs), whose members consist of scientists and experts from industry, government and academia, with expertise in food safety, nutrition, regulation and trade. So far, there are the following WG formed:
1. Chemical Food Safety 2. Education and Training of Food Handlers
3. Food Law and Regulations 4. Food Microbiology
5. Food Safety in Relation to Religious Dietary Laws 6. Genetic Toxicology
7. Mycotoxins 8. Nanotechnology 9. Nomenclature on Food Safety and Quality
10. Nutrition 11. Preservation Technologies
12. Regulatory Aspects of Reducing Post-Harvest Losses
13. Ethics in the Food Industry 14. Food Contact Materials.
In addition to the GHI Book Series published by Elsevier/Academic Press, many association members author, edit or contribute books and book chapters on GHI Working Group topics and other subjects related to the global harmonization of food safety legislation and regulation.
KEY's Role in GHI
Prof. Dr Vladimir Kakurinov (Consulting and Training Centre KEY’s Executive Director), was appointed as a GHI Ambassador for Macedonia in 2012, also becoming a GHI Auditor the same year.
As a part of their activities, KEY and its members are:
Contributing to the GHI e-Newsletter.
Organizing and participating at GHI meetings during Congresses and Conferences:
Conference in Food Quality and Safety and Hygienic Engineering and Design – 2013, 7th Central European Congress on Food (CEFood) – 2014, Hygienic Design Festival – 2015, 1st Black Sea Association of Food science and Technology (B-FoST) Congress – 2016 and the NUTRICON Congress series from 2015 onward.
Publishing, translating and disseminating GHI documents
as: GHI Nutrition White paper, Feeding people, Fueling innovations, etc.
Members of Editorial Board in GHI Book
titled: Nutritional and health aspects of traditional and ethnic foods of Balkan countries.
International Projects
- Educational services for development and implementation of Academic Program – Hygienic Engineering and Design, and special courses in the field of Microbiology and Control System – North Caucasus Federal University, Stavropol, Russian Federation.
- Improving traditional cheese making in the North of Montenegro – ValueCheese. EU – IPA.
- Training requirements and careers for knowledge-based Food Science and Technology in Europe – TRACK_FAST. European Commission Framework Programs 7.
- Improvement and Establishment of Biotechnology in Higher Education. Tempus IV, ETF-JP-00295-2008.
- Evaluation on Macedonian Rural Development Programme – Agricultural Products Quality. Swedish International Development Agency and Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy of Republic of Macedonia.
- Macedonian Traditional Food Protection. Swedish International Development Agency and Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy of Republic of Macedonia.
- Food Safety and Security – Rapid detection methods. NATO Science for Peace.
- Differences between brand and systems for traditional food protection. Swedish International Development Agency and Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy of Republic of Macedonia.
- Supporting Programme for the Development of Entrepreneurship, Competitiveness and Innovation of the Small and Medium Enterprises. British Embassy, Macedonia.
- EU-Western Balkan network for training and the promotion of cooperation in research activities within the Food, Agriculture and Biotechnology theme of FP7. European Commission Framework Programs 6.
- Resources Strategies and Drought Alleviation in Western Balkan Agriculture – WATERWEB. European Commission Framework Programs 6.
- Building of local capacities of Republic of Macedonia Ministry for Agriculture Forestry and Water Economy National Extension Agency representatives. Swedish International Development Agency.
- Evaluation of HACCP Prerequisites in Macedonian food processing companies. Deutsche Gesellshaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH and Republic of Macedonia Agency for Entrepreneurship Support.
- Opening up the European Research Area to the Western Balkan – ERA WESTBALKAN. European Commission Framework Programs 6.
- Establishment of a Quality Control and Certification Platform/Expertise Centre. EVD, Development Agency of Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs.
- Evaluation of HACCP Accreditation Bodies in Republic of Macedonia. World Bank group – IFC.
- Establishment of Petri film methods (PAC, PLBC) accuracy regarding microbial count in meat processed products. United States Agency for International Development.
- Evaluation of HACCP system in Republic of Macedonia. Deutsche Gesellshaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH and Republic of Macedonia Ministry of Economy.
- Microbial status in dairy farms regarding Good Hygienic Practice. United States Agency for International Development.
- Introduction of Organic Agriculture and Low Input Sustainable Agriculture in the Balkan Countries. EVD, Development Agency of Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs.
- Support to Macedonian food processing companies to introduce HACCP system for hygienic and quality management. Deutsche Gesellshaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH.
- Stimulating quality in local food production. ECHO (European Commission Humanitarian Office) and CRIC (Centro Regionalle di Invento per la Cooperazione), Italy.
- Development of Dairy Microbiology training for on farm production. ECHO (European Commission Humanitarian Office) and CRIC(Centro Regionalle di Invento per la Cooperazione), Italy.
- Microbiological methods for food quality and safety control. United States Agency for International Development.
- Bio-monitoring in Vardar River. Japan International Cooperation Agency.
- Microbiological parameters important for date of durability extension for certain meat processed products. United States Agency for International Development.
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