Floor Dust Pan material
We have been buying colored dust pans that are FDA compliant for our production plant. The price has increased drastically lately. I found very similar ones, less than half the price, but they are not "FDA compliant". Thinking about it, these are to scoop up dust from the floor... do they need to be FDA compliant just because the dust is in a food plant? There is no risk of the pans to touch product, obviously! Any feedback will be greatly appreciated!
In any event I know of no such requirement for dust pans.
As long as they are made of suitable materials, are cleaned and properly stored, I don't see an issue.
Marshall
"FDA Compliant Dustpan"... Gotta give credit to some clever marketing guy for the company naming them as such.
I've never purchased any such dustpan in any facility, and never had an issue with "standard" dustpans during any audit (so long as they're not all beat up and broken lol)
As long as they are made of suitable materials, are cleaned and properly stored, I don't see an issue.
Marshall
^This is really the bottom line, as long as you can justify that your pan meets all these criteria there shouldn't be an issue. IMO, the "FDA Compliant" tagline for things like dust pans just means the manufacturer used plastics that are on a list of FDA approved plastics for food contact, or something to that effect. It does not mean that the equipment has been certified or inspected by the FDA.
It's more useful to understand GMP utensil fundamentals for situations like this, things like:
- Handles should not be made of wood
- Utensils/devices should be clean-able
- You should have a sanitary method of storing them ready to go before you buy
- Avoid utensils/devices that seem to chip or fray easily (sometimes this only comes with trying the product out first, unfortunately)
I think it's the same thing as declaring something to be "OSHA approved". OSHA doesn't really give "approval" to items or devices. Sometimes they will declare something "acceptable" but usually not an item. They are very nondescript but state the item or process be "acceptable" to avoid whatever the hazard.
I actually recent came across the dust pans labeled FDA complaint on a well known and used website. The only thing I could think of was that they offered them in a variety of colors, so maybe that's why they mention it as way to show for facilities that need to color code, these ones are complaint? I have no idea...I agree with Hoosiersmoker above.