WHITE PAPER The cleaning equipment itself must be appropriately designed, so as to minimise the risk of microbial, foreign body and allergen harbourage and cross-contamination. This would include consideration of good functional design (effective and efficient), good hygienic design (the cleanability of the equipment itself), equipment durability, and the incorporation of specialist design features, such as the availability of the cleaning equipment in different colours to allow colour-coded segregation of different food processing operations/areas. COLOUR CODED SEGREAGATION FOR IMPROVED FOOD SAFETY & QUALITY A simple, well-implemented colour-coding system can benefit a food processor in many ways and virtually any food production facility can be colourcoded. Many food processors already use colourcoded segregation of areas and equipment as part of their Good Manufacturing Practices, and as a proactive step in risk reduction as part of their HACCP pre-requisite programme. British Retail Consortium (BRC) have in their food safety standard BRC v.8 specific requirements on cleaning equipment. In section 4.11.6 it is specified that: Cleaning equipment shall be: hygienically designed and fit for purpose, suitably identified for intended use (e.g. colour coded or labelled), cleaned and stored in a hygienic manner to prevent contamination. The other major GFSI based food safety schemes (SQF v8, FSSC 22000 v4.1 and IFS v6.1) specify the need for cross-contact and cross contamination controls. Primarily, the use of colour-coded cleaning equipment can help minimse the risk of product contamination by microbes, allergens and foreign bodies and consequently improve food safety and quality, save on expensive recalls and protect the reputation of the business. Colour-coding is often used to differentiate steps, parts or areas of a food production process. Probably the most common use of colour-coding among food processors is to distinguish equipment for use in cleaning of food contact and non-food contact surfaces/equipment. For example, the colour Green could be used to identify cleaning tools used on the floor of the production area, black is common for use with drains, engineering, and outside areas, as it doesn’t show the dirt, and blue is common for cleaning of food contact surfaces, as few foods are blue and the colour contrast allows easier visual detection of plastic fragments or stray filaments from the cleaning equipment in the food. Other colours can be selected to differentiate between tools that are specified for use with particular allergens or cleaning chemical agents. This practice can help prevent the undesired occurrence of allergens in non-allergenic foods, and equipment contact with chemicals that could pose a safety risk to the food or damage the equipment. As an alternative to introducing new colours for allergens or chemicals colour coded rubber bands can be put on the cleaning equipment to distinguish tools used for particular allergens or chemicals. Colour coded segregation can also extend to the areas in or lines on which the food is produced. This “Zone control” uses equipment of a designated colour for exclusive use within a particular area/on a particular line. For example, green may be assigned to facilities and processing lines that handle processed or cooked meats, while blue may be assigned to those handling raw meat, thus minimising the risk of microbial crosscontamination. For control of allergens, orange, pink, purple or lime equipment could be used exclusively in an allergen area thus minimising the risk of allergen cross- contamination. Additionally, when designated coloured cleaning equipment is assigned to matched coloured zones, confirmation that a tool is in the wrong place is easy and quick to rectify, and is in compliance with the HACCP principles of monitoring and control. Colour-coding can overcome language barriers. Copyright © 2019 Vikan A/S · All Rights Reserved 04
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