3 replies to this topic

[Thecheeseguy]

Hi, I had a question regarding uniforms. for a cheese manufacturer in NJ is it needed to wear white shirt and white pants? I'm looking into changing out our uniforms and was thinking about going to longer lab coats instead of the pants. I cant find any information online saying that this is not ok. 

[SQFconsultant]

Hey Jersey!!!!  born and raised in North Jersey!

 

SQF does not dictate the color of uniforms -- use whatever color you want - I've seen them all.

 

I do suggest however that you get high quality lab coats (if that is the route you take) so that no parts end up being foreign material in your equipment or product such as buttons, fraying material, heat applied name badges that fall off or buttons that come loose or the worst that I witnessed was those little metal grommets that pop off and end up in the bread at a bakery in Harrison and one in Newark too.

[jfrey123]

So long as your employees aren't dealing with open products or food contact equipment under the level of these lab coats, I think that would be fine.  White ends up being preferred by many auditors because they perceive it the easiest to observe from a distance whether the smock/coat has become soiled.  Realistically any color is fine if you're prepared to defend the choice, and you can even use different colors to differentiate between different tasks:  at one of the meat plants I help oversee, they use white to indicate employees handling raw product and dark blue to indicate employees handling sealed packaging.

[Gelato Quality Lead]

Like everything else, it should be based on risk assessment. In our RTE ice cream plant, we've determined that long, white lab coats that have no pockets, have cuffs on the arms (rather than loose, open sleeve ends), and snaps instead of buttons are the least risky for our facility. 

 

Something like this