Food processing facilities have lighting requirements beyond typical commercial or industrial spaces. Contamination risks, wash-down requirements, and food safety standards create specific constraints.

Here’s what you need to consider.

The Core Challenge

Food safety regulations require that nothing from the building infrastructure can contaminate food products. Lighting fittings are part of that infrastructure.

The concerns:

• Physical contamination: Glass, plastic, or other materials falling into food
• Chemical contamination: Unsuitable materials leaching into products
• Biological contamination: Fittings harboring bacteria in crevices
• Pest attraction: Some light spectra attract insects more than others

Good lighting design in food facilities addresses all of these.

IP Ratings for Wash-Down

Food processing areas typically require regular cleaning, often with high-pressure hoses. Your lighting needs to withstand this.

IP65: Minimum for areas with wash-down. Dust tight and protected against water jets.

IP66: Better for aggressive cleaning regimes. Protected against powerful water jets from any direction.

IP69K: Highest rating, specifically tested against high-pressure, high-temperature wash-down (steam cleaning). Required in some pharmaceutical and dairy applications.

The fitting must actually be IP-rated for the environment, not just marketed as “suitable for food processing.” Check the test certificates.

Shatterproof Requirements

Traditional glass lenses are a contamination hazard. If a fitting breaks, glass fragments could enter food products.

Options:

Polycarbonate lenses: Impact resistant, won’t shatter like glass. But may scratch, yellow with age, and have reduced optical quality.

Safety-coated glass: Glass with a coating that contains fragments if the lens breaks. Better optics than polycarbonate.

Integrated safety features: Some fittings have secondary containment—if the lens fails, an inner shield prevents fragments escaping.

For high-risk areas directly above open food products, the most stringent approach (safety-coated glass or full encapsulation) is appropriate. For lower-risk areas (dry storage, corridors), standard polycarbonate may suffice.

Food-Safe Materials

The fitting housings, gaskets, and mounting hardware should be made from food-safe materials.

Common considerations:

• Stainless steel housings (typically 304 or 316 grade) resist corrosion from cleaning chemicals
• Food-grade silicone gaskets rather than standard rubber
• Non-toxic coatings and finishes
• No recesses or crevices where bacteria can accumulate

This pushes toward specific product ranges designed for food processing, rather than general industrial fittings.

Mounting and Installation

How fittings are installed matters as much as the products themselves.

Surface mounting: Flush against the ceiling with sealed edges leaves no gaps for contamination to accumulate.

Suspended mounting: If fittings are suspended, the suspension hardware must also be cleanable and corrosion-resistant.

Cable management: Cables and conduits should be routed to avoid passing over food processing areas where possible.

Access for cleaning: Fittings should be positioned so they can be cleaned as part of regular sanitation schedules.

Temperature Considerations

Food processing environments often involve temperature extremes:

Cold stores and freezers: Fittings need to operate reliably down to -30°C or colder. Standard LEDs can struggle; look for cold-room specific products.

Cooking areas: High ambient temperatures stress LED drivers. Ensure thermal ratings are appropriate.

Temperature cycling: Moving between environments (e.g., loading dock to cold store) causes thermal stress. Quality fittings handle this; cheap ones fail.

Colour Temperature and Colour Rendering

In food processing, workers need to see accurately. Identifying product quality, spotting contamination, reading labels—all require good light.

Recommended:

• CRI 80 minimum, CRI 90 preferred for quality inspection areas
• Colour temperature: 4000K-5000K is typical (provides good visibility without distorting colours excessively)

For meat processing specifically, some facilities use specialised colour temperatures that make fresh meat appear appropriately red (rather than the greyish appearance under some LED spectra).

Regulatory Framework

In Australia, food safety is governed by:

Food Standards Code: Sets requirements for premises, equipment, and maintenance.

State food safety regulations: Implement the national code with local requirements.

Third-party certifications: Many food manufacturers require HACCP, SQF, BRC, or other certifications. Auditors will examine lighting as part of the facility assessment.

There’s no specific lighting standard for food processing, but lighting must not create food safety risks. Auditors look for:

• Adequate light levels for tasks
• Shatterproof or safety-rated fittings where appropriate
• Cleanable installations
• Documented maintenance

Light Levels

AS/NZS 1680 provides general guidance, but food industry standards often go further:

• General processing areas: 300-500 lux
• Inspection and quality control: 500-750 lux
• Colour inspection (grading): 750-1000 lux
• Storage areas: 150-200 lux

Uniform illumination reduces shadows that could hide contamination or defects.

Product Recommendations

Several manufacturers have food-processing-specific ranges:

• Pierlite: NSF-certified options
• Philips/Signify: CoreLine range with food-safe options
• Thorn: Specifically designed food industry fittings
• Specialist suppliers: Companies focused on food, pharmaceutical, and cleanroom lighting

These products cost more than general industrial lighting but are designed for the application. Cutting corners here creates compliance risk.

The Retrofit Challenge

Retrofitting LED into existing food facilities requires care:

• Don’t disturb existing fittings during production
• Clean and sanitise the area after any ceiling work
• Ensure new fittings match or exceed existing protection ratings
• Document changes for food safety records
• Coordinate with quality/food safety teams

This isn’t the kind of project where you have an electrician show up unannounced. It requires planning and coordination.

Energy Rebates

Food processing facilities often operate extended hours, making them excellent candidates for ESC/VEEC rebates.

A cold store running 24/7 with inefficient metal halides? That’s a significant rebate opportunity plus substantial energy savings.

The rebate process is the same as for other commercial lighting. The installation just needs to meet food safety requirements as well.

Summary

LED lighting in food processing is straightforward once you understand the constraints:

1. IP rating: Match to cleaning requirements
2. Shatterproof: Use appropriate lens materials for the risk level
3. Materials: Food-safe, cleanable, corrosion-resistant
4. Temperature: Rated for the environment
5. Light quality: Adequate levels and colour rendering
6. Installation: Clean, sealed, maintainable

Get these right, and you have a lighting system that supports food safety, provides excellent illumination, and saves significant energy.

Get them wrong, and you’ve got an audit finding waiting to happen.