TRSA Hygienically Clean Food Safety (HCFS) Certified
Third-party validation of UniFirst's UniSafe® service and Product Protection Process (PPP) for food industry businesses.
Commitment to best management practices
For food manufacturers, food processors, and other food-related businesses that need to safeguard their food products from cross contamination, careful control of all processes in their facilities is critical to achieving regulatory compliance. That's where Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) and Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) plans come in. To ensure food safety, food-related businesses must adopt a HACCP/GFSI mentality in virtually every aspect of their program—right down to the uniforms that outfit their food industry workers. UniFirst's uniform and textile laundering plants are Hygienically Clean Food Safety Certified* by the Textile Rental Services Association (TRSA)** reflecting our commitment to best management practices (BMPs) as verified by inspections and independent microbial lab testing. Our dedication to compliance and processing uniforms and textiles using BMPs is governed by strict quality assurance documentation (QA), and is the focus of stringent inspection and evaluation of critical control points to help minimize risk.
Verified food safety procedures
On-site inspections evaluate practices relevant to handling and processing textile products used in food manufacturing/processing/service establishments for adherence to U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) directives.
TRSA Hygienically Clean Food Safety (HCFS) inspectors verify operational processes for:
- Garment washing, drying, sorting, inspection, transportation, and employee PPE practices
- Determining, monitoring, controlling and documenting Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP)
Certified outcomes
To maintain our certification, UniFirst laundry plants must pass quarterly testing of outcome-based microbial testing by independent labs, indicating that our processes are producing Hygienically Clean garments and other reusable textiles. This process eliminates subjectivity by focusing on outcomes and results that verify textiles cleaned in our facilities meet appropriate hygienically clean standards and BMPs for dairies, fruits and vegetable, bakery, grain, and other food and beverage industry segments.
HCFS certification validates UniFirst's ability to:
- Produce hygienically clean, reusable textiles that help eliminate possible contamination sources
- Maintain processes and protocols consistent with HACCP/GFSI, FDA, and CDC guidelines
- Comply with certification standards for microbial (bacteriological) lab testing
See our complete line of food service uniforms, including food service shirts, pants, butcher coats, food processing coats, and aprons in our online Uniform Rental Catalog.
Learn more about our Food Industry Uniform and Facility Services.
Call (800) 455-7654.
