Sanitation in food facilities: Principles, Cleaning Steps and Training

Food Sanitation is an everyday job to avoid food contamination. No one and nothing should be left behind and all functions and operations must be involved in sanitation. This commitment is vital to prevent food-borne illnesses, control pathogens (e.g. Listeria monocytogenes), control normal spoilage bacteria, meet customer expectations and comply with regulatory requirements.

The contamination of whipped cream caused, in 2014, 11 cases of Salmonella enteritis in Cheesecake Factory. A problem with cleaning and sanitizing the whipped cream machine was observed, since it was rinsed each night but the sanitation was not happening.

It has been reported that poor sanitation can be responsible for 35% of the foodborne illness cases, of which 19% by poor personnel hygiene and 16% by contaminated equipment/environment. Thus, a good sanitation program will give rise to a reduction in the probability of incidences or recalls and to higher productivity.

The six steps of sanitation

The following steps are basic procedures for effective cleaning and sanitizing. Each step in the process depends on effective completion of the prior step.

1. Dry clean:

a) Remove/scrape debris from floor and surfaces (loose bulk soils, paper, packaging, …)

b) Disassemble equipment and/or open equipment panels to clean inside

c) Protect equipment for the use of water

2. First-Rinse:

a) With a warm-to-hot water rinse. Temperature between 110 °F (38 °C) to 140 °F (60 °C) is ideal to dissolve fat but not high enough to denature proteins (that would make them hard to remove from surfaces)

b) Water pressure should be used wisely since high pressure will help remove dirt but also will project dirt into the air and produce contaminated aerosols

c) Some mechanical scrubbing may be necessary

Visual inspection is important at this stage to ensure that debris have been properly removed from surfaces since the chemicals used in the next steps are not designed to be effective in an environment with excess soils or gross contamination.

3. Detail clean:

a) Have detergents pre-prepared in the correct concentration

b) Wash all equipment and environmental surfaces using the appropriate detergent (defined in the cleaning procedures). Consider water temperature and pressure as presented in the previous point

c) Respect the contact time necessary for the chemical to break up soil (as suggested by product specifications or by previous cleaning validation). Excessive contact time is undesirable due to chemical drying

d) Previously removed equipment parts or utensils should be washed in a separate area

e) Mechanical action and scrubbing should be used to improve detergent efficiency and prevent biofilm formation

f) Cleaning belts may require slowing down its speed to assure proper cleaning. Conveyor guides and belts underside should be also included in the cleaning procedures

4. Second-Rinse:

a) Rinse all surfaces with clean water to remove suspended soils. Temperatures around 110 °F (38 °C) to 140 °F (60 °C) are recommended

b) Contact surfaces should be the last surfaces to be rinsed

c) Consider training cleaning staff to use ATP swabs as self-assessment of the first 4 steps

d) Resemble equipment parts

5. Inspection step:

a) Most of the inspection efforts should be done in this step since if the 4 previous steps are not done correctly, sanitizers will not be effective. Furthermore, if the inspection is only done after sanitizing and considered insufficient, it would be a waste of time and money since reclean will be mandatory

b) Done by trained personnel (someone in charge and responsible for the cleaning staff). Documented evidences of inspection should be kept

6. Application of sanitizer:

a) Be aware of sanitizer concentration and contact time requirements

b) Use adequate water temperature and pressure

Alcohol-based sanitizer is an option when drying quickly is important

Training

As for any of the food safety activities cleaning and sanitation requires that the people in charge of these procedures have proper knowledge and training. In its absence, the probability of improper sanitation or even contamination of food products increases exponentially. If people, besides being motivated, have not acquired the skills and competence to perform cleaning and sanitation activities, the whole Sanitation House crumbles and falls apart. Find below some of the most important training topics.

-Kinds of Dirt and how to Remove

-How to use Tools

-How Chemicals Work

-Skills to Manipulate Chemicals and Tools

-Know and Understand Cleaning Procedures

It takes time, patience and money to train cleaning staff but be sure that on the end of the line you may be avoiding other much higher costs like production halts (since cleaning is the first step for a good equipment maintenance), complaints, compromising product organoleptic and safety characteristics (like shelf-life), recalls and diminishing staff morale (who likes to work on a poorly clean environment?!).