REGULATORY PROCEDURES FOR DISINFECTANTS IN EUROPE

The general approach to hygiene in the food industry has been changed by the publication of European Directive 93/43 of 14 June 1993, with t he adoption of a new approach to quality control taking into account H ACCP. It contains few specific requirements but general rules and amon g them the cleaning and disinfection procedures. This review difficult to build found that disinfectants have a highly diverse regulatory st atus: no approval system at all for disinfectants used in food industr y; approval system only for some food (milk) and no for other (meat); specific legislation depending of the type of production or consumptio n: general regulation whatever the types of foodstuff; voluntary guide lines developed by scientific association with disinfectant committees . Other aspects, such as toxicology and residue, are sometimes include d in the regulations or are lied within the responsibilities of the ma nufacturer or the distributor. During this lecture we are trying to co mpare the different system in taking into account different parameters such as: Ministry in charge voluntary system-actives substances-speci alites : positive, negative or no list-requirement on the biodegradabi lity-efficacy test (laboratory or held test)-bactericidal, fungicidal, virucidal activities-rinsing after disinfection. (C) 1998 Elsevier Sc ience Ltd. AU rights reserved.