Beard Nets for non-food processing plants (Packaging)

Hi there,

I am currently working in a plant that produce composite containers to be used for food or beverages, however we do not produce, fill or package any type of food/beverage.

We have been using hair and beard nets as part of our food safety program, but during the summer the beard nets are very hot and uncomfortable; lately we have been toying with the idea to drop the beard nets and keep only the hair nets.

Does anybody has any advice about this???

I will appreciate any input.

Thanks

Doris

From Montreal, Canada

First off:  to IFSQN!

Now:

If you get hair inside the container it's in the container.  If you have hair nets and no beard nets you might as well have no hair nets.

I say keep them both.  If I bought bottles and started to find hair in the in the summer months I'd get a new supplier.

Thanks for your answer, however when reasoning this issue, we were saying that people also have hair in their arms, and we do not cover them.....

does mustache and beard hair fall as much as the hair in your head??? and what about arm hair, how often does it fall ?

What do you think?

I have to say I am in agreement with Mr. I. that you need to keep them but I will ask, does your process have any kind of final cleaning step, air blow or rinsing that would control the risk?

Your points on other places with hair are valid not to mention eyebrows and eyelashes.  

We process vegetables in the summer and it gets quite hot so people have the option to shave or wear a beard net.  We also require moustaches to be covered too.

Actually, we have long sleeved smocks as required garb on our production floor. It minimizes any potential hazards with people not washing hands and arms thoroughly, also.

If it is in your product, your customer is not going to care that it is arm hair vs head hair.

I haven't done an exhaustive study on the rate of loss of hair from either the head, beard, arm, etc. but the issues of hair shedding onto packaging or into other products is more than just physical it is also microbiological.  When employees eat do they wash their beard, goatee, soul patch?  No.  They, should, wash their hands but other areas of potential contamination still exist.  Food quality is about mitigating potential risks and hair is well known to be one of them.

Like I said in another thread I worked in a food product with people that have an ethnic origin known for having long thick arm hair and it was pointed out that there was no requirement for sleeves.  How easy is it to lose arm hair v/s facial/top of head hair?  I don't know why arm hair, many times, is exempted I just know it is.  In some jobs when you are dumping bags of ingredients in there are requirements for sleeves such as a yogurt plant I worked at.  When people were batching or dumping ingredients into a hopper they had to wear sleeves.  Some places require it some don't.

However you can't just say "I got the hair out I'm good" it's not, to me, that black and white.

Dear canfab,

I suggest you consult the CFIA or related organisation. However I can predict the reply.

Rgds / Charles.C

Dear Canfab,

What would you do if you find hair inside container you bought for your product? i put cleanliness as a major criteria on empty can supplier's performance. Last time i bought fried noodle at small restaurant in X country and i found a piece of frizzy hair in it . it's really disgusting.. i lost my appetite for a few days later

If you are using the bouffant style beard guard try switching to a net style beard guard. 

These breath better and are more conformable to wear.