PMMI, the Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies has published a new report, titled, Food Safety and Sanitation Trends: End User, OEM, and Supplier Perspectives.

For the report, researchers asked food and beverage manufacturers about the challenges they face in meeting regulatory requirements. More than half of respondents indicated that training employees is a top challenge. They also noted hurdles in getting all organizational stakeholders on the same page, as well as keeping track of new or changing regulations.

The report also identifies digital integration as a key future trend in the food and beverage industries. Currently, however, not all operations have achieved the levels of digital integration necessary to leverage the full benefits of a highly networked facility, especially in terms of food safety and sanitation procedures.

At present, respondents said they prioritize core sanitation fundamentals—such as material choice, design, and cleaning non-porous surfaces—over advanced technologies. Additional considerations, such as corrosion resistance and sealed components, reflect expectations around equipment durability and cleaning efficiency.

While technology-centric features, like automated cleaning and digital integration, are currently lower priorities, they may serve as future differentiators rather than immediate decision-drivers.

For example, only a handful of surveyed end users (16 percent) are using an enterprise resource planning system in their sanitation processes. This finding indicates that original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and suppliers may need to help end users achieve greater levels of digital integration, such as connecting sanitation processes to operation-wide software management systems, to unlock the benefits of connected operations.

Additionally, with most end users linking both sanitation processes and chemical use to machine wear, OEMs and suppliers may need to explore new strategies to increase the durability of their machines. While 81 percent of OEMs report incorporating corrosion-resistance properties on their equipment, end users continue to experience wear, suggesting that current measures may not fully address the realities of increasingly aggressive sanitation protocols.

From incorporating food safety- and sanitation-compliant design features into their machinery to offering consulting services, OEMs and suppliers play an essential role in helping end users maintain safe and compliant operations.