Fish Factory Sanitation in Walvis Bay: Cleaning to Export Standard

Namibia's hake and horse-mackerel factories earn their export listings shift by shift — and much of that earning happens after the filleting stops, in the wash-down. The audit that keeps a factory on the EU list reads the sanitation programme as closely as the cold chain.

Alkaline first: the chemistry of fish soils

Fish oils and proteins saponify under alkaline attack — they convert to removable soap. That is why the programme starts with caustic-based and high-alkaline cleaners, not neutral detergents that smear the film around. The sequence is fixed: solids off, alkaline wash, rinse, then sanitise. Sanitiser over grease is money down the documented drain.

Sanitise with paperwork

Actisan on process surfaces, Bactiwash at the hand stations, hypochlorite at verified concentrations, Quicksan foggers for room turnover — but what the auditor actually reads is the file: dilutions, contact times, SDS, consistency. We supply that documentation with every product, because our fish-industry customers pass audits on it.

The drains are the exam

Factories pass surfaces and fail floor drains with monotonous regularity. A weekly drain-brushing routine plus biological treatment — Biodyne Environoc 301 digesting the grease and the hydrogen sulphide smell at source — keeps the one swab point everyone forgets.

Supplied from 4th Street East

Swachem's Walvis Bay depot is minutes from the processing cluster, delivering before morning shift. Talk to the coastal branch about standing hygiene supply — and the audit file that comes with it.