10.1.1 Defi nition of cleaning in place (CIP)
Cleaning in place (CIP) is an automatically performed method of cleaning,
applied to remove residues from complete items of plant equipment and
pipeline circuits without dismantling or opening the equipment. It is a
system of cleaning engineered to provide fast, productive, consistent and
reproducible high-quality cleaning of all product contact surfaces to a
predetermined level of cleanliness. The system works by circulating chemical
(detergent and disinfectant) solutions and rinsing water through food
production equipment (tanks and piping) that remains assembled in its