Cleaner Surfaces = Safer Hands
Frequently touched foodservice surfaces warrant watching more closely They deserve having standards and a system to measure, monitor, motivate and manage. ATP, Adenosine Triphosphate, provides the chemistry for realtime measurement, providing a simple but memorable self-demonstration method for those charged with both periodic schedules and the clean-as-you-go staff. Its visual. Its personal. It gets done.
Surface cleaners and sanitizers protect the foodservice operator and staff in two important ways:
- First, in the storing, preparing and serving of food, clean surfaces are barriers to cross-contamination.
- Second, in the front-of-house operations, sanitized surfaces can break the chain of infections introduced by ill customers. CDC research into the cruise ship industry's battle with recurring norovirus has clearly documented the risk of the ill guest for all foodservice operations.
In one-step spray cleaning protocols, the ability to actually clean is critical, more important than kill. Pathogens quickly down the drain or in the garbage can are well placed - dead or alive.
Technically, effective sanitizers vary widely in their chemistry. Many are eliminated for use in the kitchen because of their food contamination potential or hazardous handling characteristics.
Broad-spectrum efficacy is a must: spores, viruses, fungi, bacteria and mycobacterium. The sanitizer must be fast acting, approved for indirect food contact, environmentally safe and user friendly.
Surface sanitizer checklist:
- Effective sanitizing action
- Broad spectrum activity
- Norovirus effective
- Must penetrate and destroy bio-films
- Fast acting
- Safe in use
- Safe to hands for frequent use
- Non-irritating to eyes
- No residual fragrance and no taste.
- Convenient for use in kitchen
- Spray bottle application OK.
- Low cost per use given frequency need.
