Tips for Preventing Contamination in the Warehouse

There are many different types of food grade warehouses, but they all have one thing in common: They must be properly maintained in order to prevent contamination and foodborne illness. In the United States and Europe, temperatures can range from over 40°C in the summer to less than -10°C degrees in the winter. Therefore, climate control plays a crucial role in food safety. Without proper regulation, product waiting to be moved to an industrial freezer or refrigerator could be left out, causing it to spoil.

Requirements differ, for the most part, depending on the warehouse itself and what goods are stored within. A warehouse containing chilled or frozen goods, for instance, is handled differently than a dry storage facility. But again, there are always overlapping methods to prevent problems. Most foods, for example, are stored on a pallet and placed on shelves to prevent them from coming into contact with the floor or ground surfaces — and that’s true of everything from frozen to dry goods.

But what are some other common tips that can be used to prevent or stave off contamination?

Properly Trained Staff

Personal hygiene and strong, sanitation protocols are key to maintaining a healthy food storage environment. Every person within a warehouse will be near or directly touching the goods stored within. Therefore, it’s important that personnel have the appropriate education and training. Do they know when to wash their hands and where? Do they have protective gear, and is it properly cleaned and serviced? What happens during an injury or emergency to mitigate food contamination?

These are all things that should be taught and followed, not just by company staff but anyone within the warehouse(s) including partners and vendors.

Routine Sanitation Processes

Obviously, proper sanitation is critical to keeping a warehouse or facility safe and healthy. But most sanitation plans involve cleaning up an area, workspace or storage area after the fact — that is after it’s been used or dirtied in some way. The better strategy is to establish a proactive plan, one that encourages routine facility-wide cleaning sessions. More importantly, cleaning should always be documented, in full, so that’s there’s a record of how often and when a facility was maintained.

To put it into perspective, in the WHO European Region, 23 million people fall ill because they consume contaminated foods. Furthermore, food contamination is responsible for 5000 deaths each year in this region, despite the WHO European Region having the lowest estimated burden of foodborne diseases globally. These two stats show just how important it is to have an established sanitation process for keeping both storage facilities and the goods within clean.

Maintain Facility Grounds and Exterior

Most sanitation and maintenance efforts are focused on the interior of a warehouse or facility. But even with the cleanest location in the world, if the exterior is not maintained well it’s going to affect everything stored within. A rodent or pest problem, for example, can spread from the exterior grounds to the facility itself

All doors, windows and entry-points should be properly maintained, and there should always be a cleaning process involved when opening or passing through them. Are personnel or vehicles cleaned after being moved into a facility?

The exterior of the building should also be inspected regularly to assess its condition and how that impacts cleanliness. If the roof is old and decaying, for example, and there are many leaks inside that will certainly affect storage quality and conditions.

Proper Waste Handling

It doesn’t matter whether you’re talking about food waste, production waste, or some form of bio-waste it all needs to be disposed of properly. The important step is removing waste in a way that doesn’t interfere with stored goods, and that also mitigates contact. Personnel handling waste should never go back to handling food and goods, at least not without proper sanitation.

In addition, dumpsters and canisters should be properly sealed and they should be located far away from stored goods, but also away from doors and entry-points. The latter will help prevent pest problems as well as widespread bacteria issues.

Real-Time Food Labelling and Tracking

As soon as goods enter a facility they should be labelled and tracked. By discerning the movement of items it’s possible to prevent further contamination, identify outbreak points, and even stop the goods from shipping out. There’s also the matter of basic management. Almost all food and beverage items have an expiration date, so properly labelling and tracking this information will help ensure that no expired goods leave the warehouse.

Another element of this is to properly handle the goods in question. For instance, foods with certain allergens may be properly labelled and tracked so as to keep them away from other items. Overall, this helps reduce the risk of cross-contamination.

Separate Raw Products

Raw foods such as meat and various vegetables are more susceptible to bacteria growth, especially before they are cleaned or treated. Therefore, they should always be handled separately from other goods. That includes designating specific areas for raw storage, processing, and packaging.

Cross-contamination with raw foods involved is very serious and can result in the spread of extremely dangerous illnesses including Salmonella or E. coli. In 2016 alone, the EU recorded a total of 6,619 cases of infections with Shiga-toxin/verocytotoxin-producing E. coli (STEC/VTEC). At the end of the day, everyone who comes into contact with the food from farm to fork, must work to maintain food quality throughout its supply chain journey.

Food Safety a Priority

When you’re storing and handling foods, the health and safety of the people that will soon be consuming said food is your responsibility. Contamination and disease are more common than we’d like in the food and beverage industry, but with the appropriate measures in place, that risk can be mitigated considerably.

The author, Megan Nichols is a freelance blogger and writer.

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