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HYGIENIC DESIGN · STANDARDS · SPECIFICATION
Key facts
- R638 regulation 6 the legal floor in South Africa: smooth, rust proof, non toxic, non absorbent surfaces, free of open joints or seams
- EHEDG industry guidance and component certification from Europe, Guideline 8 holds the design principles
- 3-A American sanitary standards by equipment type, with the 3-A symbol as the conformance mark
- The schemes FSSC 22000 and BRCGS require defined hygienic design requirements, not a named certification
- How they stack law as the floor, scheme as the system, EHEDG and 3-A as the engineering content
- Course all three layers are taught across the ASC series, from Essentials at R2 400 to Advanced at R6 500
Learn the layers once, apply them on every machine you ever buy
Hygienic Design Essentials teaches the ten rules with the standards behind each one, so you know which document to cite and which number to demand. Five hours, online, self paced.
Lifetime access, certificate on completion. Priced in rand, with indicative USD, EUR and GBP equivalents shown on the course pages.Three documents, three different jobs
Confusion about these three wastes money in both directions. Plants over specify, demanding certified everything for a dry snack line, and plants under specify, writing food grade on a purchase order and hoping. The way out is to be clear about what each document is.
R638 of 2018 is the South African regulation governing general hygiene requirements for food premises, made under the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act. It is law. Regulation 6 carries the equipment duties: food contact surfaces smooth, rust proof, non toxic, non absorbent, free of open joints or seams, chipped or cracked items out of use, and surfaces cleanable to no more than 100 viable microorganisms per square centimetre. It tells you the outcome you owe, not how to engineer it.
EHEDG is the European Hygienic Engineering and Design Group, a consortium of equipment manufacturers, food companies, institutes and authorities. It publishes guidelines, with Guideline 8 as the principles document, and certifies components for defined uses. Its guidance is voluntary, and it is also the most widely used engineering reference for hygienic design outside North America. Worth knowing before you cite it: the current fourth edition of Guideline 8 is a principles document that delegates detail to the specialist guidelines, and several figures people quote from it, including dead leg ratios, appear nowhere in it. We unpack that in what Guideline 8 actually says.
3-A Sanitary Standards come from the American dairy tradition and are published by 3-A Sanitary Standards Inc. They are prescriptive standards for specific equipment types, and conforming equipment carries the 3-A symbol. If you export dairy to the United States, or buy American equipment, you will meet them. They pursue the same outcomes as EHEDG guidance through a different, more equipment specific route.
Side by side
| R638 | EHEDG | 3-A | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | South African law | European industry guidance and certification | American sanitary standards |
| Status | Mandatory for food premises in South Africa | Voluntary | Voluntary, expected in US dairy trade |
| Covers | Outcomes: surface condition, cleanability, use | Principles, test methods, component certification | Equipment type by equipment type detail |
| Conformance shown by | Nothing on the machine: you verify in service | EHEDG certificate for defined use, or design to guidance | The 3-A symbol |
| Best used as | The legal floor every specification cites | The engineering content of your specification | The reference when the equipment type or market calls for it |
The machinery standards EN 1672-2 and ISO 14159 sit alongside these, giving general hygiene requirements for machinery design, and your certification scheme, FSSC 22000 or BRCGS, sits above them demanding that you define and verify your own requirements. What none of these documents does is read the others for you. That translation layer, from law and guidance to lines on your purchase order, is precisely the skill the ASC hygienic design series trains.
Stop guessing which number belongs in the specification
Intermediate Hygienic Design works through materials, welds, couplings, tanks and the building with the source document named against every figure, so your specification cites editions, not rumours.
Launch price, standard price R4 650. Lifetime access, certificate on completion.The two miscitations that cost specifications their authority
First, crediting numbers to Guideline 8 that it does not contain. Dead leg ratios, slope figures and radius values circulate with EHEDG’s name attached, and when a supplier checks and finds the figure missing, every other line in your specification is suddenly negotiable. Cite the specialist guideline or state the figure as your own site requirement.
Second, citing R638 regulation 7 for equipment surfaces. Regulation 7 covers containers and packaging. The food contact surface duties, the smooth, non absorbent, crevice free wording and the 100 viable microorganisms limit, live in regulation 6. The error is common because the heading of regulation 7 mentions equipment, and it is exactly the kind of detail a sharp auditor or a sharper lawyer enjoys. Quote the regulation you mean.
So which applies to you?
All of them, in layers, and your purchase specification is where the layers meet. R638 regulation 6 goes in as the legal baseline, because every machine on a South African food premises owes it. Your scheme’s equipment management requirements shape the process: specification, supplier evidence, acceptance, change control. Then the engineering references supply the numbers: EHEDG guidance and the machinery standards for general equipment, 3-A where the equipment type or an American market demands it. A specification built that way survives both the supplier’s sales engineer and the auditor’s calibration, and it is the single highest leverage document in your whole hygiene programme. We show you how to assemble it, line by line, in the purchase specification guide and in depth across the courses.
Frequently asked questions
What is EHEDG?
The European Hygienic Engineering and Design Group, an industry consortium of equipment makers, food producers, research institutes and authorities. It publishes guidelines on hygienic engineering, of which Guideline 8 carries the design principles, and runs a certification scheme under which components are tested and certified for defined uses. Its documents are guidance, not law, and they are the most widely cited engineering reference for hygienic design in Europe and much of the world.
What are the 3-A Sanitary Standards?
American sanitary standards for equipment, with roots in the US dairy industry, published by 3-A Sanitary Standards Inc. Equipment that conforms can carry the 3-A symbol, which US dairy regulation and many US buyers look for. They are purchasable standards covering specific equipment types, detailed and prescriptive, and they serve the same goal as EHEDG guidance by a different route.
Is EHEDG certification mandatory in South Africa?
No. No South African regulation and no GFSI certification scheme requires EHEDG certified equipment. South African law sets duties through R638, and schemes such as FSSC 22000 and BRCGS require you to define hygienic design requirements, buy against them and verify them. EHEDG guidance is the engineering content most plants use to fill those requirements, which is a choice, not a legal obligation.
What does R638 say about equipment design?
Regulation 6 of R638 of 2018 requires food contact surfaces to be smooth, rust proof, non toxic, non absorbent and free of open joints or seams, requires chipped, split or cracked items to be taken out of use, and sets a cleanability limit of no more than 100 viable microorganisms per square centimetre on a surface swab. It states the outcome the law demands and leaves the engineering of how to achieve it to you.
Can I use 3-A equipment in a plant specified to EHEDG guidance?
Usually yes. The two bodies share the same goals: cleanable geometry, suitable materials, drainable surfaces, accessible or reliably cleaned in place equipment. A 3-A conforming component is generally strong evidence of hygienic design. The caution is at the interfaces, because fitting standards and connection types differ, and a hygienic component joined badly to the next pipe is no longer hygienic.
Which standard should my purchase specification cite?
Cite by layer. R638 regulation 6 as the legal baseline in South Africa, your certification scheme’s equipment requirements as the system layer, and then the engineering references that give numbers and geometry: EHEDG guidance, EN 1672-2 and ISO 14159 for machinery, 3-A standards where the equipment type or the export market calls for them. Name editions, because suppliers respond to documents, not to the word hygienic.
Three documents, one trained eye
The ASC hygienic design series teaches the law, the schemes and the engineering guidance as one working discipline, with 79 original diagrams and two tools you keep. Built for South African plants and international buyers alike.
Essentials, 5 hours, R2 400 Intermediate, 9 hours, R3 700 Advanced, 24 hours, R6 500
Lifetime access and a certificate on every course. Advanced is R6 500 until 30 November, then R7 900. Or take the three course Pathway for R6 337.Sources and further reading
- EHEDG, ehedg.org
- 3-A Sanitary Standards Inc, 3-a.org
- R638 of 22 June 2018, Government Gazette 41730, regulations 6 and 7
- EHEDG Guideline 8: what it actually says
- Hygienic design at audit: FSSC 22000, BRCGS and ISO 22002-1
- The ASC hygienic design course series