In the UK and Europe, the relevant legislation is based on EU regulation 852/2004. Equivalent regulations are in place globally. There are two elements of this legislation that govern the compliant operation of knife and tool sterilisers.
Annex III: slaughterhouses and meat cutting plants
“must have facilities for disinfecting tools with hot water supplied at not less than 82 °C, or an alternative system having an equivalent effect.”
The Econoliser has been designed to meet this regulation. It is not an alternative system, it uses water at above 82°C to sterilise the knife or tool. It’s patented design uses spray instead of a hot bath and has been shown to achieve an equivalent micro-biological outcome.
The law requires food businesses to establish, implement and maintain permanent procedures based on HACCP principles. Where something is identified as a critical control point, those procedures must include critical limits, effective monitoring and corrective action.
For sterilisers, one critical limit is the minimum 82°C water temperature and the monitoring of this is often done by occasional checks. There is recognition that, in many instances, the temperature of the water in immersion sterilisers can drop below 82°C, which is a non-compliant situation. Operatives are often given responsibility to refresh their sterilisers but since they do not have the time or facilities to check the temperature of the water, this cannot be consistent with HACCP.
The design of the Econoliser is such that the temperature will never drop below 82°C. Water temperature is permanently displayed and operatives do not have to be responsible for the management of this critical limit.
Another critical control point must be water quality. Even if the water in the steriliser is at or above 82°C, if this water is contaminated with organic material then the knife or tool will carry this contamination with it when taken out of the steriliser, passing this onto the next carcass. This also cannot be consistent with HACCP.
Since there is no standing water in an Econoliser, this issue never arises. Used water drains away after every sterilisation cycle.