When it comes time for a processor to renovate or build a new facility, there is excitement in the air. However, as much as one might be tempted to jump into pouring concrete and putting up walls, there are food safety and hygiene considerations that must be made in the design phase.
Workers hold the key to meat and poultry safety. The inability of plant employees to follow such hygienic practices as proper hand washing and wearing sanitized personal protective equipment can lead to contamination, the spread of foodborne illness, reduction in product shelf life and product recalls.
Several common methods for maintaining employee cleanliness exist. One crucial method is that processors have easily accessible and common locations for handwashing and as well as donning and doffing PPE.
With employee hygiene a key variable in the creation and spread of contaminants, training programs that educate workers on best practices can reduce food safety threats.
Recall after recall, there are indications that employee hygiene and good manufacturing practices are not being followed and companies are not leveraging their most powerful tools, their employees, to control the process and prevent these events.
In food safety, the stakes are high. If a food processor doesn’t take a proactive food-safety stance, and then experiences a recall due to E. coli or Salmonella, it could put the company out of business.