A discussion paper on challenges and limitations to water reuse and hygiene in the food industry

Drinking water is becoming a scarce resource in many areas and both use of water and wastewater outlet are of major ecological and economical importance in many countries. Consumption and discharge may be considerably minimized by means of water reuse. The food industry has a large consumption of water, but until now very limited reuse has taken place due to legislations constraints and hygienic concerns. Legal space for use of water of qualities other than drinking water has been opened with the current legislation. This will, however, in many cases require careful analyses of individual cases based on a thorough understanding of the hazards involved in order to avoid compromising the safety of the food product and thereby the health of consumers. Implementation of water reuse practices in the food industry presents a great challenge for both companies and public health authorities regarding knowledge, technical expertise and documentation. Regulatory, technological, monitoring, verification and ethical aspects associated with microbiologically safe reuse of water in the food industry are discussed and some examples of the challenges ahead and possible approaches are given.