9 replies to this topic

[PetBone]

I am curious to know if anyone can provide any insight to how SQF defines impervious? We produce pet treats and are working on a plant expansion as well as moving towards our SQF certification. We use a dry clean up process, so would drywall walls be compliant with SQF and its impervious standard laid out in the code?

 

4.2.3.1 Walls, partitions, ceilings and doors shall be of durable construction. Internal surfaces shall be smooth and impervious with a light colored finish, and shall be kept clean

 

 

 

 

[Setanta]

My understanding is that impervious means that water or liquid cannot pass through it. I'm certain drywall doesn't meet the criteria.

[PetBone]

Setanta -

 

That was my initial thoughts as well, however we do not use water to clean so they were thinking that a regular painted wall would be sufficient. I was hoping that there might be someone else who uses dry cleaning that could speak directly to this from experience.

[Setanta]

You may need to provide a risk analysis as to why you are only doing dry cleaning. Is there ever a circumstance where you may need to spray clean?  Do you have samples of micros?

[fgjuadi]

We have dry cleaning only.

 

We put up FRP Paneling along our dry wall -

it is easy to clean & very inexpensive.   It looks cheap, but cheap & clean is better than cheap & dirty.

 

It also has the added benefit of not being destroyed when something touches it.  We were getting a lot of holes in the wall with drywall, just from carts etc, not forklifts. FRP stopped the problem.

[PetBone]

Thank you all for your replies. So far the company believes the painted drywall walls will be sufficient in all areas where water is not used. FRP will be used in the wash room where we will have a dishwasher.

[Ekivlen]

I'm a little naive to the process of dog treat production. Maybe you could shed some light on ingredients, equipment, etc.

[PetBone]

Ingredients are mostly dry (i.e. flours, etc), so dust particulate is the biggest cleaning issue we deal with.

 

Equipment is injection molding and extrusion to make the actual treats.

[Ekivlen]

We have dry cleaning only.

 

We put up FRP Paneling along our dry wall -

it is easy to clean & very inexpensive.   It looks cheap, but cheap & clean is better than cheap & dirty.

 

It also has the added benefit of not being destroyed when something touches it.  We were getting a lot of holes in the wall with drywall, just from carts etc, not forklifts. FRP stopped the problem.

I would have to agree with Majenta. We use similar paneling in our preparatory rooms - raw and finished USDA processing. It sounds like our process is a little messier than your's, but the minimal expense of this paneling will not only achieve the impervious requirement, but it will also last much, much longer.

[SQFconsultant]

If I understand this correctly you have painted drywall; but you did not say what kind of paint was used. Last year I walked thru a facility that had just put in brand new drywall because they got a deal on it and they also used "dry cleaning". Guess what?... the majority of drywall is not impervious, thus drywall by and of itself would normally not be acceptable and it doesn't matter what kind of cleaning you use, the code is pretty clear as to what is expected... However there are finishing coatings that could be used and as long as those coatings or materials are "approved" for use in a food factory you would be good to go. Frankly, the upkeep however would seem to be an excessive waste of labor when it would be better to have thought it thru and installed the correct wall material to begin with.  Should have just used FRP to begin with.