EHEDG New Zealand

Regional Section of EHEDG established for New Zealand

David Lowry, FNZIFST, Lowry Food Consultants

A regional section of the European Hygienic Engineering Design Group (EHEDG) was formally established at the plenary meeting of the EHEDG World Congress in London in late November 2018.

The initiative to establish a regional section for New Zealand was spearheaded by David Lowry, based on his assessment of a food safety need and resource gap in the New Zealand food industry and its supply chain that he gained over a lifetime of industry troubleshooting and consultation. His experience showed that flaws in hygienic design of facilities and equipment were very frequently the basis for food safety issues, arising from a combination of factors including limited access to knowledge and technical resources, failure to engage all relevant stakeholders in decisions and insufficient focus on hygienic design principles.

The New Zealand Regional Section of EHEDG is at the very outset of establishment with the first meeting of the New Zealand committee (voluntary members representing all stakeholder groups) taking place in early February to establish operation within the EHEDG guidelines and objectives specific to New Zealand. Key objectives for the NZEHEDG organisation will include:

Currently, David Lowry is the Chair of the NZ EHEDG Committee. Until the first meeting of the committee when dedicated web links, social media and e-mail links for EHEDG NZ are established, the contact for EHEDG NZ is through David’s company e-mail – dave@lowryfc.co.nz . Further details will be provided through Food New Zealand, NZIFST Nibbles and other appropriate channels as soon as they are finalized and set up.

In the meantime, please contact David via e-mail regarding any aspect of EHEDG membership, benefits and activities. He would be delighted to hear from you regarding becoming a member and/or participating in committee functions.