Revision of 3-A Sanitary Standard for General Requirements, ANSI/3-A 00-01-2018 Continues

The broadened scope of the ANSI/3-A 00-01-2018, 3-A Sanitary Standard for General Requirements (GR) has allowed several new standards to be created to address construction criteria for robots, end of arm tooling, robot based automation systems, and automation equipment like Unitized Automated Milking Installations (AMIs) to ensure cleanability and inspectability of equipment in the food processing arena. The GR “defines the general requirements for hygienic equipment intended for processing milk, milk products, foods, food ingredients, beverages, or other edible materials.” The American National Standard, now in its 2nd edition publication, does refer to “product” as “milk, milk products, foods, food ingredients, beverages, or other edible materials,” but this does not mean non-food processors like cosmetics, and other personal care products like liquid soaps are not using the GR. There is no other American National Standard for hygienic design and so we continue to engage in new project discussions with outside associations for new equipment standards such as specialty produce handling equipment, and other equipment which must meet the environment of intended and have specific requirements for surfaces that are Clean-in-Place (CIP), Clean-Out-of-Place (COP), both CIP and COP, or Manual cleaning.

In September 2021, the 3-A SSI Steering Committee approved the referral of T-00-01-A Project for 5-year full revision of candidate ANS/3-A 00-01-202x. The revision work is on-going via Webinar sessions carried out in Working Group 14 (General Requirements). All amendment proposals submitted to 3-A SSI have been incorporated into the draft standard for discussion. Examples of the types of proposed amendments include adding new terms for “dry,” “flowable,” “fluid,” “frozen,” “liquid,” “low moisture” and “viscous” to the informative Appendix. Additional proposals include adding a definition for an enclosed and exposed thread. The draft when completed will be balloted by the Working Group, then if approved will be balloted by the Steering Committee. Should both ballots pass, a call for ANSI Consensus Body will be issued and a third ballot will take place for final approval. Following ballot approval and resolution of all comments, including public comments, the final approved document will be submitted to American National Standards Institute as a candidate American National Standard. We anticipate the completion of the 5-year revision and publication in 2023 as target date for balloting, public review/Consensus Body Canvassing and publication. Public announcements have been made and WG14 remains open for participation by all who may be materially or directly influenced by the Standard.

Did You Know?

Not only is the GR in full revision, but the 3-A Steering Committee approved the referral of 6 amendment proposals to 3-A Working Groups. The following projects are on-going and scheduled for discussions:

• Project B-78-03-A, Amendment to 3-A Sanitary Standard for Spray Devices Intended to Remain in Place, Number 78-03 to allow the use of a mechanical force seal for a retractable spray device. This project is being reviewed by Working Group 1 (Vessels).
• Project B-21-02-A, Amendment to 3-A Sanitary Standard for Centrifugal Separators and Clarifiers, Number 21-02 to allow the use of coil springs for mechanical seals. This project is being reviewed by Working Group 4 (Pumps & Mixers).
• Project B-74-07-A, Amendment to 3-A Sanitary Standard for Sensors and Sensor Fittings and Connections, Number 74-07 to allow the use of metal injection molding. This project is being reviewed by Working Group 7 (Instruments).
• Project B-26-06-A, Amendment to 3-A Sanitary Standard for Sifters for Dry Products, Number 26-06 to allow the use of threads/coil springs, etc. This project is being reviewed by Working Group 8 (Concentrating Equipment).
• Project B-102-00-A, Amendment to 3-A Sanitary Standard for Unitized Automated Milking Installations, Number 102-00 to allow the use of interference fits for sensors. This project is being reviewed by Working Group 9 (Farm & Raw Milk Equipment).
• Project B-71-01-A/B-72-01-A, Amendment to merge both 3-A Sanitary Standard for Italian-Type Pasta Filata Style Cheese Moulders, Number 71-01 and 3-A Sanitary Standard Italian-Type Pasta Filata Style Moulded Cheese Chillers, Number 72-01. This project is being reviewed by Working Group 10 (Cheese & Butter Equipment).

These amendments are added to the cadre of revision projects that 3-A Working Groups are already engaged in. Since the publication of the GR, 32 Standards and 2 Accepted Practices have been revised to the new format and style “B Level“ using ANSI/3-A 00-01-2018, 3-A Sanitary Standard for General Requirements (GR) as a normative reference.

ANSI Accreditation

3-A SSI was recently reaccredited under our recently revised operating procedures for documenting consensus on 3-A SSI-sponsored American National Standards effective January 20, 2023. 3-A SSI has been an ANSI Accredited Standards Developer (ASD) since 2004. An ASD, is an organization that has voluntarily submitted its standards development procedures to ANSI for review and accreditation. ASDs’ procedures must comply with ANSI’s Essential Requirements, including provisions for demonstrating openness, balance, lack of dominance, due process, and consensus. As an ASD, 3-A SSI must comply with ANSI's oversight and auditing when submitting individual standards for approval as ANS, including provisions for demonstrating openness, balance, lack of dominance, due process, and consensus.

For more information on how to get involved you may contact Eric Schweitzer, Director of Standards and Certification: erics@3-a.org.

The specific activity of all active Working Group projects is kept updated and available on our Working Group webpage.