Keeping installations clean is extremely important in the food industry. This is one of the most tightly regulated businesses around, and if you cannot maintain sanitary standards, you can expect to get into trouble. Inspectors can come at any given time and if you and your employees aren’t ready, then they will penalize you. People in this industry also have to deal with a wide variety of products, including lots of waste, which has to be managed properly and according to strict standards. Let’s take a look at some of the most common cleaning issues people have to face in the food industry.
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Keeping Totes Clean
Totes play a very important role in the food manufacturing industry. They can be used to ship finished products, raw ingredients, or different mixtures for food production. This can include things that are very hard to clean, like sticky syrupy substances, for instance, which can only be removed with an efficient tote cleaner.Â
Different totes may require specialized tote cleaners. If a company uses a lot of IBC totes, for example, then it will need an IBC tote cleaner that can remove the gunk inside and extract it cleanly and efficiently. Some of these systems can be very heavy, while others are portable. Companies have to choose which ones would work best for their applications and may have to invest in a variety of different systems which can be complex and expensive.
Removing Buildup from Processing Equipment
Gunk, build-up, and residue can also get stuck into mass production machines and will require the use of heavy machinery and different cleaning agents. This can become a major challenge if they have a big production line, and the ingredients they have to use are particularly difficult to clean.
Avoiding Surface Cross Contamination
Businesses that handle food preparation have to constantly keep an eye on how their employees handle ingredients and prevent cross-contamination. One of the ways this is often done is by using color coding to make sure that certain tools and utensils are only used with certain ingredients.
You could decide to have green cutting boards and knives for produce, red cutting boards and knives for meat products, and blue cutting boards and knives for fish. You also have to make sure that cooked foods and raw foods are never in contact with each other. If necessary, you could decide to have alternate tones of the same colors to differentiate utensils and instruments that should be used with cooked and raw versions of certain foods.
Managing what employees do is the toughest part, however. This is why strict protocols have to be implemented, and employees need to be reminded to wash surfaces often with disinfectants. Sanitizer should be plentiful and highly visible too. Some companies will also implement interval cleanings of surfaces to keep them free from non-food contaminants and pathogens.
These are some of the most common cleaning and sanitary issues that people in the food industry have to deal with. They all have solutions, but they can vary in scope, efficiency, and costs, so it’s up to you to research them and consider looking for expert advice before you invest in any of them.
