BRCGS, FSSC 22000, IFS and SQF all expect zoned cleaning equipment. None of them publishes a colour chart.
Segregation of cleaning equipment between zones is expected by every GFSI-benchmarked standard a food plant is audited against: BRCGS, FSSC 22000, IFS and SQF.
The standards do not publish a colour chart. The scheme is defined by the plant, documented, trained, and matched by the equipment held on the floor.
GFSI-benchmarked standards treat segregation of cleaning equipment between zones as a control on cross-contamination. The scheme itself is defined by the plant. It must be documented, trained to, and demonstrable against the equipment in use.
Sources: BRCGS, FSSC 22000, IFS, SQF.
The finding is generally not that the wrong equipment was purchased. It is that a scheme exists on paper and the equipment on the floor does not match it: a colour used outside its zone, a faded item that is no longer identifiable, or an area for which the scheme was never written down.
Colour coding functions irrespective of language skills. A written cleaning procedure is effective for the people who can read it. A colour is effective for the whole floor, including new starters and contractors.
Source: Vikan hygiene system documentation.
In a plant with mixed literacy or high turnover, it is the only hygiene control that requires no reading.
Blue is used throughout food manufacturing because blue does not occur naturally in food. A fragment of a blue brush, gasket, plaster or tool is visible in the product. Detectable and metal-detectable versions exist for the same reason.
The same convention governs this site: blue marks flow and specification, and red is used only to indicate a failure condition.
Vikan carries out hygiene site surveys, identifying hygiene problems in advance of an audit.
Source: Vikan hygiene site survey service description.
Missing or expired supplier documentation is among the most common non-conformances in a BRCGS audit. The auditor verifies the active suppliers on the plant's Approved Supplier List, so an undocumented supplier becomes a finding in the plant's audit rather than in the supplier's.
Our documentation pack, comprising questionnaire, certifications, traceability and declarations of conformity, is available on request and should be held on file before the next audit.
| Figure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Colour coding expectation | BRCGS · FSSC 22000 · IFS · SQF | GFSI-benchmarked standards |
| Effectiveness | Functions irrespective of language skills | Vikan hygiene system documentation |
| Site surveys | Identify hygiene problems in advance of an audit | Vikan service documentation |
| Rationale for blue | Blue does not occur in food; contamination is visible | Food industry practice |
| Common audit non-conformance | Missing or expired supplier documentation on the ASL | GFSI audit practice |
| A compliant colour chart | NOT PUBLISHED | The scheme is defined per plant. |
No GFSI-benchmarked standard publishes a colour chart. BRCGS, FSSC 22000, IFS and SQF all expect a scheme and none of them issues one, because the zones in one plant are not the zones in another.
A compliant scheme cannot be supplied by a party who has not surveyed the floor. The requirement is that the scheme is defined, documented, trained, and matched by the equipment in the racks.
Segregation of cleaning equipment between zones is expected by all GFSI-benchmarked standards, including BRCGS, FSSC 22000, IFS and SQF. The standards do not publish a colour chart. The plant defines the scheme, documents it, trains to it, and the equipment in use must match it.
Blue does not occur naturally in food, so a fragment of a blue item is visible in the product. Detectable blue plastics exist for the same reason.
Missing or expired supplier documentation on the Approved Supplier List. The auditor verifies active suppliers on the plant's list, so an undocumented supplier becomes a finding in the plant's audit.
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