Air quality in food and beverage production has always been a behind-the-scenes priority—important, regulated, and often expensive, but rarely discussed beyond audits and maintenance schedules. In 2025, that has changed. Clean air is no longer just about trapping dust and controlling airflow. It’s now about active disinfection, real-time monitoring, and smarter systems that improve product safety while cutting energy use and downtime.
From bakeries managing flour dust and allergen carryover, to meat plants fighting odours and microbial load, the industry is moving towards a new model: air as a measurable, controllable part of food safety and operational performance.
1. Why “Passive Filtration” Isn’t Enough Anymore
Traditional clean air strategies in factories have relied heavily on familiar building blocks: HEPA or high-grade filtration, positive air pressure in sensitive zones, strict zoning, and routine filter replacement.
Those approaches still matter, but they are increasingly being treated as only the first stage. Filtration can capture particles, but it does not reliably neutralise what travels with them: airborne microorganisms, organic vapours, odours, and cross-contamination risks.
For many manufacturers—especially those producing ready-to-eat foods, chilled products, or products with strict shelf-life requirements—air is now being viewed through the same lens as surface hygiene: a pathway that must be controlled, not simply managed.
2. UV-C Moves From Specialist Tool to Standard Factory Defence
UV technology has evolved rapidly in the food sector, becoming what many engineers now consider a second layer of protection alongside filtration. The biggest shift has been the move from UV as an occasional “deep clean” tool to UV as a continuous disinfection feature built into ventilation systems and production environments.
From mercury lamps to UV-C LEDs
Older UV installations often used mercury vapour lamps, which raised practical concerns in food zones. These systems were typically larger, more fragile, and less adaptable to compact installations.
The newer generation of UV-C LED systems offers major advantages: they are mercury-free, instant-on, and easier to integrate into spaces where traditional systems were difficult to install—such as in conveyor tunnels, packaging lines, or restricted airflow ducts.
Far-UVC (222 nm): disinfection in occupied areas
One of the most significant developments in clean air is the growing interest in Far-UVC (222 nm) technology. Conventional UV systems (such as 254 nm) can be harmful to human skin and eyes, limiting their use to enclosed systems or times when areas are unoccupied.
Far-UVC opens up the potential for continuous air disinfection in production zones while staff are working, supporting safer high-traffic areas such as ingredient weighing stations, end-of-line packing halls, and hygiene transition points.
For manufacturers, that is a step-change: instead of relying on downtime sanitation cycles alone, air disinfection can become part of normal operating conditions.
HVAC hygiene and coil protection
UV is also increasingly deployed for “invisible” hygiene improvements within HVAC systems. Installing UV units near cooling coils can help prevent biofilm formation—reducing microbial growth and keeping airflow paths cleaner.
This has a quality and safety benefit, but also an operational one: cleaner coils improve heat transfer and reduce airflow restriction, supporting better HVAC performance and helping plants avoid energy creep caused by poor system hygiene.
3. Bipolar Ionisation: Cleaner Air Where People Work
While filtration and UV focus on air moving through a system, bipolar ionisation (BPI) targets the air inside the room itself, and that’s why interest has accelerated.
These systems release positive and negative ions that interact with airborne particles, encouraging fine contaminants to clump together. The resulting larger particles are easier to capture through standard filtration or settle out of the breathing zone.
For food manufacturers, the appeal is clear: BPI can improve air quality even in areas where airflow is turbulent, doors are opening frequently, or production naturally creates airborne material. It is being discussed most often in challenging environments such as:
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Bakeries dealing with flour dust and allergen control
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Meat and poultry operations where humidity and odours are persistent
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High-traffic packing areas where personnel movement constantly disturbs air patterns
As with any active air technology, manufacturers are also becoming more cautious about verification. Procurement teams increasingly want proof that systems meet “zero ozone” requirements and will not introduce secondary risks into food environments.
4. Photocatalytic Oxidation (PCO): Breaking Down Contaminants at Source
Photocatalytic oxidation (PCO) is another technology gaining renewed attention as F&B hygiene strategies become more advanced. Rather than trapping contaminants, PCO uses UV light and a catalyst to break down organic pollutants at a molecular level.
This makes it particularly relevant for environments where controlling VOC build-up, odour molecules, and airborne organic contaminants is critical—such as ready meal manufacture, high-care chilled production, and high-risk assembly environments.
For businesses balancing food safety and shelf-life performance, PCO is increasingly being positioned as a method that supports both product integrity and working environment quality, especially where odour and airborne residue can impact packaging areas.
5. Smart Air Monitoring: From Fixed Schedules to Real-Time Control
Perhaps the biggest shift in air management isn’t a filtration material or a disinfection wavelength. It’s the move towards live measurement.
Plants are moving away from “set it and forget it” replacement schedules and fixed ventilation settings towards systems that respond to what is happening on the floor.
IoT sensors and real-time visibility
Modern air installations increasingly include monitoring for indicators such as:
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PM levels (fine particulates)
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CO₂ build-up (occupancy and ventilation effectiveness)
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Pressure differentials between zones (hygiene separation)
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Humidity and temperature impacts on airborne growth risk
For manufacturers, this changes the conversation. Instead of relying on assumptions, engineering teams can detect issues as they happen—such as dust spikes during ingredient tipping, airflow disruptions from door activity, or ventilation underperformance during busy shifts.
Predictive maintenance and reduced waste
Smart monitoring also supports predictive maintenance. Rather than changing filters on calendar dates, systems can track pressure drop and airflow efficiency, signalling when filters are actually approaching end-of-life.
This matters commercially. In many sites, filter replacement is not a minor cost—especially where downtime, labour, waste disposal, and stock holding are included. A predictive approach reduces both cost and risk, helping plants avoid the worst-case outcome: a critical filter failure discovered during an audit, or after quality performance has already drifted.
6. Sustainability and the Push for Lower-Energy Clean Air
Air systems have always had an energy footprint, but in 2025 the operational cost of moving, filtering and conditioning air is under greater scrutiny. Energy reduction targets and carbon reporting pressures mean that “clean air at any cost” is being replaced by “clean air with provable efficiency”.
Many manufacturers are now adopting hybrid strategies: combining moderate filtration grades with active technologies such as UV-C and ionisation to reach required hygiene performance without the fan power penalty of relying solely on ultra-high-grade filtration.
This is also where clean air increasingly links to wider factory sustainability strategy. A well-designed air quality solution can support:
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reduced waste from spoilage or contamination events
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more consistent product quality and shelf-life stability
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lower HVAC energy demand
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improved staff environment and fewer hygiene-related disruptions
Choosing the Right Solution: What Manufacturers Should Ask
Clean air is not a single product decision—it’s a system decision. As more “active” technologies enter mainstream adoption, manufacturers must evaluate solutions with the same discipline applied to other critical infrastructure upgrades.
Key questions now include:
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Will the system work safely in occupied areas?
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Does it create byproducts that could introduce new risks?
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Can it be monitored and verified in real-time?
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Does it reduce energy use, or increase it?
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Can it integrate into existing HVAC layouts and hygiene zones?
The clean air landscape is moving fast, but the direction is clear: future-ready F&B plants will treat air quality as a measurable performance factor, not just a compliance box to tick. With the right approach, clean air becomes not only a safety tool—but a driver of uptime, quality stability, and long-term operational resilience.
