ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 7, 2021—Dempsey Uniform and Linen Supply’s Sunbury, PA laundry has been recertified Hygienically Clean Food Service, reflecting the facility’s commitment to best management practices (BMPs) in laundering as verified by on-site inspection and their capability to produce hygienically clean textiles as quantified by ongoing microbial testing. This certification indicates linen, uniform and facility services’ exceptional dedication to cleanliness in supplying the restaurant industry and other food service establishments.
The Sunbury location is also Hygienically Clean certified for service to healthcare facilities, like Dempsey’s headquarters laundry in Jessup, PA, which also has the Hygienically Clean Food Service certification as well as Food Safety (for laundering for food manufacturing and processing),
Hygienically Clean certified laundries commit to cleanliness through third-party facility inspection and quantified microbiological testing. This combination eliminates subjectivity by focusing on outcomes and results. Inspectors verify textiles cleaned in these facilities meet appropriate hygienically clean standards and BMPs needed to serve various industries’ hygiene requirements. The Food Service designation applies to full- and limited- service restaurants, hotels, hospitals, educational institutions and other locations where food is handled and served.
Inspectors assess washing procedures (detergent formulas, temperature, disinfectant, pH, extraction), drying, garment inspection and transportation. Each certified laundry’s operational flowchart is evaluated, ensuring these procedures (as well as pickup, unloading and sorting of soiled items and sorting of clean laundry) are mapped. Employees’ use of personal protective equipment must be documented.
During inspections for Food Safety, Food Service and Hospitality certification, Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) practices are examined, including the laundry’s techniques for:
- Conducting hazard analysis
- Determining CCPs, monitoring their control, correcting them if not under control
- Validating and verifying HACCP system effectiveness
- Documenting and record-keeping to show ongoing conformance
To attain any of the Hygienically Clean certifications, the laundry must submit to a facility inspection and laundered products must pass three rounds of outcome-based microbial testing, indicating that their processes are producing Hygienically Clean Healthcare textiles and diminished presence of yeast, mold and harmful bacteria. To maintain their certification, they must pass quarterly RODAC (total microbial content) and semi-annual USP 62 (absence of specified microorganisms) testing. This ensures that as laundry conditions change (such as water quality, textile fabric composition and wash chemistry), laundered product quality is consistently maintained. Re-inspection occurs every two to three years.
Dempsey is also Clean Green certified, attesting to the company’s leadership in sustainability and conservation through its commitment to improving water and energy efficiency and adoption of best management practices for reusing, reclaiming and recycling resources. In 2012, Dempsey was the first company to earn this TRSA designation. Founded in Scranton, Pa. in 1959, the company expanded to serve customers in five other Mid-Atlantic states (New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia) and the District of Columbia.
For information on Hygienically Clean and other TRSA certification programs, contact Angela Freeman, director, certification programs at 703.519.0029, ext. 111, or email afreeman@trsa.org.
