The food recall lesson hiding inside a bearing housing
Food safety is often discussed in terms of ingredients, labelling and traceability. But the machinery used to process and package food can also influence contamination risk. The wrong component choice can make equipment harder to clean or increase the risk of premature failure in demanding processing environments. Here, Chris Johnson, managing director at specialist bearing supplier SMB Bearings, explains why bearing specification should be considered from the start when designing or maintaining food processing machinery.
Every conveyor, mixer and filling line contains mechanical components that must keep moving reliably in environments where moisture and food debris are part of daily operation. The challenge is making sure those components can withstand the conditions around them without creating unnecessary maintenance or hygiene problems.
The Food Standards Agency’s (FSA) Incidents & Resilience Annual Report 2025/26 recorded 2,073 food and feed safety incidents in England, Northern Ireland and Wales, a 14 per cent increase on the previous year. While these incidents were not all linked to machinery, they underline the importance of taking a broad view of food safety. Hygienic design is not only about the surfaces that touch the product directly; it should also include the components that keep processing equipment moving.
A small component with a large hygiene role
Bearings are often hidden inside housings, rollers and drive assemblies. Because they are small and usually not visible to operators, they can be treated as routine replacement parts rather than active contributors to machine reliability and hygiene.
In food processing, this can be a mistake. Bearings can face repeated washdowns, changing temperatures and cleaning agents. The wrong material or sealing arrangement can lead to corrosion, lubricant washout or premature wear, shortening equipment life and making maintenance more difficult.
The FSA’s food safety guidance states that equipment coming into contact with food should be constructed so it can be adequately cleaned and maintained to avoid contamination. Bearings may not always come into contact with food products, but their condition can still affect how effectively the surrounding equipment can be maintained and cleaned.
A corroded bearing, damaged seal or poorly specified housing can create areas where debris collects or make parts of the machine harder to clean thoroughly. particularly in areas that are difficult to inspect. These weaknesses are particularly important on high-throughput lines, where equipment operates for long periods and opportunities for inspection may be limited.
Why standard bearings may not be enough
Many standard industrial bearings are designed for general mechanical applications rather than repeated washdowns or exposure to aggressive cleaning chemicals. A conventional bearing may perform perfectly well in a dry, protected environment but struggle when exposed regularly to moisture or corrosive substances.
Material selection should reflect where the bearing will operate. Stainless steel bearings are commonly specified where corrosion resistance is important, while plastic bearings can be useful where chemical resistance is required. Ceramic or hybrid ceramic bearings provide another option for particularly corrosive environments or applications with more specialised performance requirements.
Sealing and lubrication are just as important as the bearing material itself. Bearings operating in washdown areas require suitable protection against water ingress, while applications near food-handling areas may require lubricants approved for incidental food contact. Looking at these factors together gives engineers a much better chance of achieving reliable performance than selecting a bearing on dimensions and load capacity alone.
Designing for washdown
Washdown environments create a particular challenge because the cleaning needed to maintain hygiene can itself be demanding on mechanical components. Water entering a bearing can affect the lubricant and encourage corrosion, while cleaning chemicals may damage unsuitable seal or bearing materials over time.
The solution is not simply to choose the strongest bearing available, but to match it to the application. Engineers should consider the level of washdown exposure, surrounding conditions and how easily the bearing can be inspected or replaced.
In some applications, stainless steel bearings with suitable seals may provide the right balance of corrosion resistance and mechanical performance. In others, a plastic or ceramic option may be more appropriate. What matters is that the bearing is specified as part of the hygienic design process, rather than added late in the project as a generic component.
The hidden cost of poor specification
Food processors operate under pressure to maintain output and meet strict quality standards. A failed bearing can interrupt production, but the consequences may go further than a mechanical stoppage. If a bearing failure creates debris, damages neighbouring components or affects the cleanability of a machine, the issue can become part of a wider food safety concern.
Even without a contamination event, poor bearing specification can create an unnecessary maintenance burden. Bearings that corrode, seize or require frequent replacement increase interventions needed on the line, bringing additional cost, downtime and hygiene considerations.
This is why bearing selection should be part of preventative thinking. Asking the right questions at the design or replacement stage can reduce problems later. Is the bearing exposed to water? Is the environment chemically aggressive? Does the application require food-grade lubricant? Is the bearing easy to access?
These are not only engineering questions. In food processing, they are hygiene and productivity questions too.
Bearing selection as part of hygienic machine design
Hygienic design is often associated with stainless steel frames, clean welds and easy-to-clean product contact areas. Bearings should be part of that same conversation. A machine can look hygienic from the outside but still contain components that are poorly suited to the environment in which they operate.
For original equipment manufacturers, considering bearings early can help produce machines that are easier to maintain and better suited to food production. Food processors can also review bearing performance to identify recurring weak points on existing lines.
There is rarely one universal answer. A conveyor in a dry packaging area will have different bearing requirements from equipment in a wet processing zone, just as a mixer handling powders presents different challenges from a filling line exposed to liquids. The correct specification depends on the operating environment, cleaning method and maintenance requirements.
By matching the bearing to the environment, food manufacturers can reduce unnecessary maintenance while supporting hygienic machine design. In an industry where seemingly small weaknesses can contribute to much bigger problems, bearing specification deserves to be treated as part of food safety thinking from the outset.