Video: Hygienically Clean Food Safety Certification

A Hygienically Clean certified food safety laundry is committed to best management practices in laundering: practices verified by third party inspection and quantified by ongoing microbiological testing of laundered linens, garments and other food processing textiles. "Hygienically clean" means the textiles have been treated to a point where the biological contaminants (bioburden) have been removed to an acceptable level so that workwear worn by employees of food-related businesses don't become a source of potential contamination. Hygienically Clean certification provides essential evidence that laundry employees are properly trained, managers understand USDA and FDA requirements and the physical plant operates effectively.

In the upcoming years, the food industry is forecasted to grow by 3% each year. Best management practices are grounded in the regulations and standards of United States Department of Agriculture Food and Drug Administration Global Food Safety Initiative Centers for Disease Control Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points OSHA.

Certified laundries maintain a quality assurance manual that documents their complete range of these best practices, giving inspectors a focal point for evaluating compliance with them. The manual lists the laundry's practices for plant facilities, housekeeping and laundry processes that consistently deliver hygienically clean textiles.

To enforce the highest standards for producing hygienically clean food safety textiles, microbiologists, HACCP and USDA experts work with launderers to document and implement Best Management Practices, including the seven critical control points from HACCP through the Hygienically Clean Advisory Board. Certification confirms that the industrial launderer's SOPs/processes for food-related customer garments are consistent with HACCP/GFSI guidelines.

To continuously quantify processing success, Hygienically Clean certification ensures that microbiological content of laundered food processing textiles falls below prescribed levels in routine testing. Product quality is maintained or even improved as water quality, textile composition, wash chemistry and other conditions evolve.

While the keys to producing quality lie in processing, only if a product itself is subjected to a certification standard can that product be considered certified, according to the International Organization for Standardization. That's why Hygienically Clean measures both the process and outcome.

Professionals in a vast range of food safety disciplines are devising better ways to improve quality in their own operations by combining process and outcome measures. Laundries can emulate them and stand out from competitors by achieving the Hygienically Clean standard's rigorous combination of process and outcome measures, quality assurance, best management practices and continuous improvement.

If you're a program decision maker, a quality manager, or an executive who reviews uniform and workwear options for a food-related business, you can trust UniFirst to ensure that your supplier's processing is Hygienically Clean, Food Safety certified. For more information, visit us at UniFirst-dot-com.