When food is your business, the safety of your product is vital to long-term success, and careful control of all processes in the facility is critical to achieving regulatory compliance. That’s where your Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) and Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) plans come in.
To ensure food safety, food-related businesses must adopt a HACCP/GFSI mentality in virtually every aspect of their program—right down to the uniforms that outfit their food industry workers.
To help prevent contamination within food manufacturing, processing, distribution, and retail operations, and to aid general safety of food products, businesses in the food industry must pay careful attention to how work garments worn by food industry employees are designed, maintained, processed (hygienically cleaned), and managed so they are not a potential source of food contamination. Careful controls are vital to minimizing cross-contamination risks and achieving regulatory compliance.
If your food-related business does not have a specialized food service uniform program provider that is HACCP/GFSI-conscious and can aid in your compliance goals, you could be exposing the business to significant risks. That’s because product safety is non-negotiable in food-related industries.
A specialized food service uniform program can help ensure food safety and minimize cross-contamination risks, while removing bacterial contaminants that can colonize on employees’ workwear.
When selecting a uniform provider, businesses should make sure the supplier is HACCP/GFSI-conscious in the following areas.
Hygienic laundering. Food service uniform laundering programs should be based on principles set forth in HACCP and GFSI application guidelines, and address safety risks involved with the process. All garments ideally should be sorted, hygienically cleaned, dried, finished, and poly-wrapped while addressing CCPs.
Ultimately, an effective food service uniform provider should offer a hygienic laundering program that helps reduce microbial contamination threats in four key laundry processing stages, including:
- HACCP/GFSI-specific wash cycle;
- Dryer/moisture removal cycle;
- Steam tunnel finishing/garment pressing; and
- Poly-wrapping (for an added preventive measure to help protect cleaned garments from exposure to environmental contaminants after processing, throughout the delivery process, and prior to being worn).
For example, UniFirst Corp. has a program specifically for the food industry called UniFirst UniSafe Service. This service includes a portal-to-portal process designed to minimize cross-contamination risks, with independent testing showing results of greater than 99.99999 percent reduction in microbial contamination associated with uniforms and other food worker garments. These types of processes begin at customer facilities and extend throughout all garment handling, laundering, and finishing procedures to regularly deliver hygienically clean garments.
Training and product protection processing. HACCP/GFSI-specific training for personnel involved in the processing of food-related customer garments is another important consideration. These specialized education programs should call for individual training of all point-of-contact personnel so that everyone involved fully understands food safety concepts, handling, and compliance. These types of specialized training programs can prove extremely useful, especially when developed in conjunction with a certified HACCP instructor. Such programs show a commitment on the provider’s part to making a positive difference in delivering the results customers need.
Furthermore, as an added measure of security, seek out a food service uniform laundering program that has been verified through scientific testing by an independent laboratory, showing that its services are designed to be effective for killing pathogens found on food industry uniforms and known to cause foodborne illnesses.
Uniform program providers should adhere to the following product protection processing (PPP) steps.
Delivery of clean garments. Hygienically clean garments (poly-wrapped, if desired) should be delivered to a designated area at customer sites.
Pickup of soiled garments. Soiled garments need to be sorted, placed in plastic bags, and put on route truck in segregated containers/bins.
Return to uniform provider’s laundry processing facility. Soiled garments are to be kept segregated during transport.
Unloading soiled garments. Garments need to be accurately sorted and those identified as “food-related” kept segregated.
Washing and drying. Identified “food-related” soiled garments should be hygienically laundered with a specified HACCP/GFSI wash process and cleaning formula. After the wash cycle, items get loaded into dryers for moisture removal and garment conditioning.
Inspection and garment finishing. All hygienically clean garments should undergo multi-point quality inspections; garments passing inspection should go through a high-temperature steam tunnel or garment pressing; garments failing inspection need to be routed for mending or replacements and go through the complete PPP again.
Loading the route vehicle for delivery. Trucks should be loaded for delivery with appropriate segregation and protection between soiled and hygienically clean garments.
Final delivery of hygienically clean garments. Finished garments (with optional poly-wrapping) are to be properly segregated and transported from the plant to the designated site at the customer location for final delivery.
Laundering process certification. When evaluating which food service uniform program works best for your business, another important consideration is food service laundering certification. Look for providers that have been awarded hygienic laundering certifications for their processes specific to the food industry.
There are a few organizations that provide these types of certifications.
For example, TRSA Hygienically Clean Food Safety (HCFS) certification status for cleaning and servicing of work apparel for food-related industries lets the world know that your uniform service provider is doing its part to help ensure food safety for consumers. TRSA is an international organization, representing textile industry companies, with expertise to determine appropriate hygienic laundering solutions for food manufacturing and food processing facilities and workplaces.
NSF International and others have also launched similar certification programs for commercial laundering operations to verify their design effectiveness in providing hygienic laundering solutions.
Using a hygienically clean certified laundry can reassure customers that you are committed to product safety, and can further establish your credibility as it relates to a focus on quality and concern for consumers. More and more, businesses in food-related industries are looking for such third-party validation from credible organizations.
Specialized food service clothing designs. Uniform designs for food-related industries are not just for show. This is another area for consideration, as uniform design also helps address critical safety functions. Be sure to choose a food industry uniform provider that offer garments with HACCP/GFSI-conscious designs and features.
When choosing food processor coats and food service uniforms for employees, business customers and the public can benefit from certain safety design features. Below are a few examples.
- No pockets above the waist that could potentially trap hazardous bacteria; or could potentially store items that may fall into the food or packaging.
- No buttons on the garment that could also potentially fall into the food or packaging; snaps are preferred in food industries.
- Durable materials, such as industrial-grade fabrics, can resist contamination and help prevent erosion.
- Long sleeves to cover arms and long pants to cover legs to prevent hairs or other skin contaminants. Elastic cuffs add another level of protection as well.
- Color coding of garments to distinguish workers wearing uniforms in food processing areas, those who handle raw and/or cooked food, from other workers to help avoid cross-contamination of harmful bacteria.
Working with a uniform service provider that can regularly maintain uniforms can help assure that hygienically clean uniforms are readily available on a daily basis. The provider should also regularly inspect all garments for any compromises in quality that could expose the company to contamination risks.
Simply put, the importance of having a specialized uniform service provider that is knowledgeable about HACCP/GFSI and the safety needs of food-related industries cannot be overstated. Minimizing cross-contamination risks and complying with food safety regulations are musts in order for food businesses to be successful—and the right uniform service provider and employee workwear designs can really make a difference.
Cosgrave is the environmental health and safety director for UniFirst Corp. Reach him at [email protected].
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