Food Industries

Bakeries

 

Bakeries have a lot of fresh product that must be kept free of contamination; warm, humid conditions that could encourage unwanted bacterial activity; yeast cultures in active use; and a range of slip contaminants from oils to flours and breadcrumb.

Bonded Flooring Solutions works for some of the biggest in the business. Floors vary more in this environment than most, between stock storage, divider areas through to baking, packaging and shipping, but common to all areas are:

  • Wall-to-Floor Coving
  • Sealed Joints
  • Falls to Waste
  • Concrete protection from oil and contaminants
  • Caustic resistant materials: tiled and concrete areas often suffer from cleaning with caustic and epoxy surfaces are an ideal replacement.

Carefully designed slip resistance: the balance between easy-to-clean and safe for traffic is critical. Bonded Flooring Solutions has researched the subject for various baking operations. 

Materials that actively inhibit microbial activity: if it’s on the floor, yeast and bacteria should have nowhere to hide and take advantage of warm, moist conditions.

 

 Abbortoires, Meat and Diary

 

Abattoirs, slaughter houses, meat and poultry processing facilities and butchers share common ground when it comes to flooring.

Typically floors are wet, in cool to freezing environments, fall to waste and have high traffic in the form of forklifts, pallet and container impacts, pedestrian activity and trolleys.

Contaminants from blood to water create slip issues that must be solved without compromising the ability to clean surfaces easily to FSA and other GMP Standards.

Floors in this industry must be durable; must protect the concrete underneath from constant water and other contaminants; and must be coved, sealed and profiled to make drainage easy and dirt build up and pest access impossible.

Floors should take minimal down-time for installation; but must last 5 – 10 years + to minimise further lost production time in the future. Future installations of machinery that break through the floor must be appropriately sealed, but properly installed, this sort of lifespan and more should be expected from a Bonded floor.

Materials are often used that allow for a 5 – 15 mm deep floor build, sealed above and below and coated to a consistent, durable anti-slip finish according to the area.

Walkways and colour coded work zones can be applied and removed over the years without the need to break into the thick, protective body of the main floor.

 

Dairys and Juices

 

As with all the food and beverage companies that Bonded Flooring Solutions works for, hygiene is critical and safety is paramount in Dairy and Juices processing.

Like fruit juices, milk is surprisingly acidic and all concrete and porous materials like tile grout and bedding should be sealed and protected from damage with chemically inert seal coats.

Caustics are often used for cleaning, making protective sealing doubly important.

Good drainage is critical – preventing liquids pooling is part of all the HACCP, GMP and related standards.

Areas where liquids are moved in drums and containers must have thick, non-porous, durable floor coats to preserve the structural concrete underneath.

Minimal downtime is important, as many operations produce 7 days a week and lost production costs contribute to the cost of works. However, allowing enough time for a good job saves money over several years, when compared to rushing works and having to replace floors sooner than should be the case.

Our materials include anti-bacterial properties, further assisting with critical hygiene standards.

Slip hazards abound when liquid, pulp, cream and other by-products are everywhere. Bonded Flooring Solutions have extensive experience combining hygienic, GMP approved floor features with safe surfaces for workers and traffic and long lasting, durable protection for building structure.

 

Winery Floors

 

Bonded Flooring Solutions has several products designed for use in winery conditions. Crucial features to consider include:

  • Wall-to-Floor Coving for best washdown results
  • Non-Slip Surfaces for constantly wet floors
  • Acid-Resistant Materials to cope with Citric, Tartaric, Lactic and other acids common to winery areas
  • Smart Appearance for wineries open to cellar door visitors
  • Zero-Odour Materials
  • Falls to Waste
  • Expansion Joint Sealing
  • Impact Resistance for barrel areas
  • Bunded washbays, entrances and press areas
  • Sealing around equipment footprints

Flooring and ‘Brett’
The last few years has seen a dramatic rise in the detection of the influence of Brettanomyces on wines.

While barrel condition is certainly the leading culprit, the general consensus is that wineries should be kept thoroughly hygienic at all times, preventing the microbes from gaining a foothold or finding areas to escape cleaning practices, lying dormant until conditions allow a new spread.

Old floors offer many nooks and crannies away from the effects of regular washdowns, from cracks in concrete floors to hard-to-get-at corners, expansion joints and equipment footings. Porous concrete itself can provide a breeding ground.

Bonded Flooring Solutions always considers these problems and inspects any area to be treated before quoting. We always provide customers with a list of potential hygiene issues and options for treatment.

Some of our materials have built-in anti-microbial properties for this very reason.

 

Our products and methods have been developed with wineries, and draw on further experience with food, meat, poultry, beverage and other processing industries for hygiene and safety. The Food Standards

Authority and organisations such as Codex Alimentarius offer extensive information on flooring in hygiene-critical areas.