10 Things To Know About Color-Coding: Who Can Benefit from Color-Coding?

In a previous post, we discussed the top ten things to know about color-coding.

The first point was: All types of food processing facilities can benefit from a color-coding program. Whether the facility is concerned with cross-contamination or not, any food processing center can benefit from color-coding. Color-coding helps keep the work area sanitary, and also helps with organization.

While many different industries can use color-coding, the industries that can benefit most from color-coding, however, are:

• Meat/poultry
• Seafood
• Dairy
• Produce/raw ingredients
• Baking/snack
• Confectionery
• Beverage
• Vineyard/winery
• Janitorial/sanitation

These are the industries most concerned with preventing cross-contamination, especially when dealing with pathogens, allergens, and other foreign contaminates, and complying with FDA and USDA regulations. In the light of recent food recalls, it is more important than ever to be as vigilant as possible in food processing facilities.

Color-coding can help with issues other than cross-contamination. For instance, keeping the workplace organized is one way color-coding can be helpful, because it helps keep confusion at a minimum. For a facility that has many employees, color-coding can help keep track of tools in a particular work area. On the other hand, a facility that has fewer employees, this level of organization would also be helpful. For example, one color could be for a particular employee or employee role.

Color-coding goes beyond cleaning and material-handling tools. All kinds of accessories can be color-coded to help ensure complete understanding. Hair nets, footwear, clothing, gloves, mats, bins and even tape can be color-coded to make distinguishing between different zones easy. Whatever your food processing facility may be, color-coding can be very helpful, if it is done effectively.

In the next part in our color-coding blog series, we will discuss how color-coding can be used to prevent cross-contamination.