Color Coding Basics: Who Can Benefit from Color Coding?

Color coding is an important part of any food safety program.

All types of food processing facilities can benefit from a color-coding program. Whether your facility adheres to US, EU, or Canadian food safety standards, the benefits from implementing a zoning plan can be seen almost immediately.

More than preventing cross-contamination

Not only does it help prevent contamination from pathogens, allergens and foreign contaminants, color coding has a variety of other uses. The practice keeps work areas sanitary and helps with organization and inventory management. It seamlessly integrates with 5S plans, especially when used with shadow boards or HyGo systems.

Facilities can use color coding as a way to keep track of tools and make sure they’re not being used by incorrect areas or shifts. Using tools as-intended can help them last longer, reducing their cost-per-use. Having tools assigned to specific areas via color-coding can also help expose if an employee is using them incorrectly and requiring replacement too frequently. 

What can be color-coded?

Color coding goes beyond cleaning and material-handling tools. All kinds of accessories can be color coded like hair nets, footwear, clothing, gloves, mats, bins, and even tape. Workers assigned to wear blue aprons can easily remember that their tools should be blue and the area they’re in charge of cleaning is marked off with blue tape. Layering the use of color makes distinguishing between different zones easy.

Where is color coding used?

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

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

These are the industries that have the strictest safety standards and the biggest need for hygienic solutions. They must be concerned with pathogens, allergens, and foreign material contamination, along with complying with relevant regulations and standards.

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

To learn more about color coding, please see our Color-Coding Toolkit.