What is BS EN 12331 about?
BS EN 12331 discusses food processing machinery. This European standard focuses on safety and hygiene requirements that the food processing industry should maintain to ensure the wellbeing of its employees and consumers. BS EN 12331 specifies requirements for the design and manufacture of mincing machines. The mincing machines covered by BS EN 12331 are used for size reduction of fresh or frozen meat, meat products and fish by cutting in a set of cutting tools.
BS EN 12331 covers professional machines used for on-demand preparation in shops and/or restaurants characterized by features such as being designed as a table-top machine, having a feed tray, the product is only fed manually, is only operated from the ground, is operated by no more than one operator, with full visibility and full accessibility of the entire machine from the operator workstation, having hole plate diameter ≤ 106 mm, a worm casing set which is removable without using any tools, the weight of the worm casing set ≤ 15 kg.
BS EN 12331 covers industrial machines used for industrial mass production, which cannot be characterized as professional machines.
Note 1: BS EN 12331 does not describe the specific requirements for the control of machines with footswitch.
Note 2: BS EN 12331 does not describe the specific requirements for additional mixing screws in the feed intake hopper which are covered by EN 13570:2005+A1:2010.
Who is BS EN 12331 for?
BS EN 12331 on safety and hygiene requirements for food processing machinery is useful for:
- Manufacturers of food processing machines
- Food processing industry
- Slaughterhouses
- Packaged meat providers
- Food safety departments
- Health and safety bodies
Why should you use BS EN 12331?
Mincing machines are used for grinding a substantial amount of meat in the shortest period possible. These machines are comprised of chopping and mixing blades that function at a high speed. There remains the risk of safety issues while operating these machines and since they process large quantities of meat every day certain hygiene protocols also need to be followed.
BS EN 12331 helps you to design mincing machines considering the safety of the operators to reduce the risk of incidents. BS EN 12331 helps you to identify the hazards that can arise while operating the machine. BS EN 12331 provides you with the necessary cleaning and hygiene guidelines and identifies zones and components of the mincing machine that require regular cleaning. BS EN 12331 also provides you with test methods to verify the safety requirements are fulfilled in your meat processing plant.
BS EN 12331 enables you to carry out your meat processing activities safely and maintain the hygiene of your mincing machines.
What is changed since the last update?
BS EN 12331 supersedes EN 12331:2015. BS EN 12331:2021 includes some technical changes with respect to EN 12331:2015. These include:
- Two types of mincing machines are defined: professional and industrial
- The requirements have been specified and revised regarding the two types of mincing machine (professional and industrial)