Conveyor belt hygiene

Regulation & design tips DE

Region

International

Other

Directly permitted

Dried herbs + spices · egg-shell surface decontamination (non-edible surface)

Directly prohibited

Meat, fresh fish, vegetables, fruit, baked goods — direct irradiation of edible surface

Legal basis

§13 LMBG / LMBestrV (UV explicit) · disclosure + label „treated with ultraviolet radiation" for edible-surface treatment

Design tip — personnel protection (ICNIRP): tunnel enclosure + light-barrier interlock at the tunnel entrance. Direct UV-C irradiation within personnel reach is acutely harmful for eyes + skin — the safety form factor dominates over UV efficiency.

Full EU country table + concept comparison on luvex.tech/wissen

Required UV intensity

← Open step ① Design Target on the left to pick reduction + germ

Side view · Belt loop

Upper run · product transported (contamination) Lower return run · UV-C irradiates belt underside before next product

Front view · Lamp under belt Lamp→Belt 5 cm · Lamp→Refl 2.5 cm · PTFE diffuse ×2.20

Use case

What it does

Prevents cross-contamination: with every piece of meat / RTE on the belt, a germ trail builds up. UV-C in the return run continuously reduces it — the product is NOT irradiated.

How it works

Lamps sit UNDER the empty return run. A PTFE diffuse reflector (95 % diffuse) belt-width-conforming closes the optical path — no stray radiation outside, no personnel-protection curtain needed. Lamps with FEP / Teflon shatter protection for HACCP.

Economic value

CIP cleaning interval typically extended by factor 1.5–2×. EU-legally uncritical (not LMBG §13 / EU 1999/2/EG) — usually accepted as a pilot system without application.