Critical Sanitation Issues in Food Service

Hands-free toilets, paper towel dispensers, and knobless doors are strongly recommended; they prevent common cross contamination vectors while facilitating proper sanitation.

Hand wash sinks should be hands free, using either an actuated electronic eye or more conventional floor or leg pedal systems to prevent cross contamination and sanitation issues involving sink plumbing fixtures. Chapter five of the 2005 Food Code advocates a minimum water temperature of 100°F. To avoid scalding accidents, the code does not recommend using steam-boosted systems.

A common GMP violation in food service and food processing sanitation is the misuse of hand sinks for cleaning food products or food equipment. This creates tremendous cross contamination pressures on the food service operation and makes sanitizing these areas challenging.

A word about plumbing design issues that affect hygiene and sanitation in your facility. Marriott, McSwane and colleagues, and chapter five of the Food Code all stress the importance of backflow prevention for water utilities, as well as the prevention of cross connections between drain or waste water streams and potable water streams. Inspect your plumbing system; there should at least be an air gap. If not, double check valves, vacuum breakers, or other backflow prevention devices for all potable water sinks.

Charles Giambrone, MS, is senior technical support manager at Rochester Midland Corp. and is also a certified SQF consultant. Reach him at [email protected].

References

1. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Real progress in food code adoptions. FDA. Available at: www.fda.gov/Food/FoodSafety/RetailFoodProtection/FederalStateCooperativePrograms/ucm108156.htm. Accessed October 23, 2009.
2. McSwane D, Rue NR, Linton R. Essentials of Food Safety and Sanitation. 4th ed. Upper
   Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall; 1998.
3. Marriott NG. Principles of Food Sanitation. 4th ed. Gaithersburg, Md.: Aspen Publishers Inc.; 1999.
4. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Food Code 2005. FDA. Washington, DC: FDA; 2007: 101-180. Available at: www.fda.gov/Food/FoodSafety/RetailFoodProtection/FoodCode/FoodCode2005/default.htm. Accessed October 23, 2009.
5. Dawson P, Han I, Cox M, et al. Residence time and food contact time effects on transfer of Salmonella typhimurium from tile, wood, and carpet: testing the five-second rule. J Appl Microbiol. 2007;102(4):945-953.