Food Protection Trends - January/February 2018 - 56

TABLE 3. Environmental temperatures (oC) for pork products manufacture, excluding
slaughter and office areas within facilities
Facility Area/Operation

Mean ± S.D.a

Minimum

Maximum

Carcass chiller/locker

2.1 ± 4.5

-5.6

10.0

Product packaging/manufacturing

8.3 ± 4.5

1.1

20.0

Finished product chilled storage

-2.2 ± 8.6

-28.9

3.9

Product transportation cooler

6.2 ± 8.5

-3.9

13.3

S.D.: Values given are means from one respondent-provided temperature datum (per respondent) ± one sample standard deviation.

TABLE 4. Respondent employee clothing/dress practices and requirements potentially
impacting food safety (n = 19)a
Protective Clothing/Dress Item

Raw Products Handling Required

Apron/Frock/Smock
Hair Net, Beard Net
Plastic Gloves (Latex, Nitrile, Vinyl)

n
17
14
12

%
89.5
73.7
63.2

Processed/Finished Products
Handling Required
n
13
14
10

%
68.4
73.7
52.6

Frequency of Clothing Items Change during Operationsb
Once/Day-Beginning of Operation
n
7

%
36.8

Multiple Times/Day
n
6

%
31.6

As Needed/Soiled
n
11

%
57.9

Values given are percentages of returned surveys indicating a required dress item (n/N).
Values given are percentages of returned surveys indicating the frequency of clothing item changes; respondents were allowed
to affirm simultaneous use of multiple practices. Percentages may not sum to 100.0%.
a
b

requirements during operations. When asked about
requirements for employee dress during operations, 100%
of respondents affirmed that the company maintained
appropriate dress requirements for employees. With
respect to harvest and fabrication of raw products, most
respondents required the use of aprons while working.
Fewer (13/18 responding facilities) reported requiring
apron use in handling of processed product compared
with those requiring that employees wear aprons for raw
product production (Table 4). Similarly, 73.7% respondents
reported requiring employees to wear hair and/or beard
nets during operations. Only 12/19 (63.2%) of facilities
reported requiring gloves as a cross-contamination barrier
during production or raw materials handling. Similarly, only
10/19 (52.6%) of respondents required employees to wear

Food Protection Trends January/February

gloves for handling of processed products. The majority of
respondents indicated that clothing items (aprons/frocks/
smocks), gloves and hair, and/or beard nets were changed at
least daily; laundered/new disposable items were donned at
the beginning of the work shift or changed on an as-needed
basis. In addition, four establishments indicated company
policy was to require employees to don cleaned or new
protective clothing articles daily at the start of operations but
to obtain a new article of clothing during his/her shift if the
article became soiled (data not shown).
In addition to employee dress and personal protective
equipment (PPE) requirements, 42.1% (8/19) of establishments reported use of sanitizing footbaths to prevent spread
of microbial cross-contamination by foot and/or forklift
traffic (Table 5). For respondents indicating use of sanitizing

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