Mustering Motivation

Post rinse: Once the soil has been removed from the surface and is suspended in solution, it must be rinsed away. Rinsing with cold fresh water is the best way to remove the soiled solution. Some cleaners and equipment are easier than others to rinse the solution away. The difficult ones require an extra step after the post rinse is complete. In this extra step, an acid can be added to a fresh water rinse. This acid rinse is used to ensure the complete removal of the soil load, the cleaning compound and any water hardness residue.

Sanitizing: The treatment of a cleaned surface to destroy disease-causing organisms. In most plants, once the surface has been cleaned, sanitary conditions are all that is needed. This means that the level of contamination is brought to a safe level. This involves the use of a chemical or hot water to cause a 5-log reduction in the number of micro-organisms present. In other words, 1 million micro-organisms are reduced to just 10. Sanitizing serves two basic purposes: first, to kill most bacteria present, and second, to provide a residual killing effect that makes additional bacteria growth difficult. It is not enough just to sanitize; one has to make sure that the soil is completely removed before sanitizing. Otherwise, the bacteria will continue to grow after the effect of the sanitizer has worn off. Chlorine, iodine and quaternary ammonium sanitizers are the most frequently used sanitizers. If these are used, then different strengths must be used depending on whether there is a rinse following the application of the chemical. If hot water is used, then it must be at a high enough temperature to bring the surface to 160° F. This involves spraying it on at 180 to 195° F or soaking the parts at 170° F in a clean-out-of-place (COP) tank for at least 30 seconds. The lower temperature is allowed in the COP tank due to the extended dwell time of the hot water.

Training Records

Once the employee has reviewed the written program, he or she must sign saying that they have done so. This gives a greater sense of responsibility to the employee. A copy of this affirmation should remain in the employee’s file with the human resource department, while another copy is placed into the training folder maintained by the sanitation supervisor.

Each employee should also undergo an annual refresher training. It is in this manner that all of the practices and rules with cleaning and sanitizing are kept fresh in the mind of the members of the sanitation crew.

Training the employees in any type of food-handling operation is not an easy task. Sufficient training can be accomplished after standard operating procedures are developed. Effective training involves teaching the employees why such measures are necessary. It involves an explanation as to why certain chemicals and sanitizers are used. This provides for a motivated crew willing to accomplish the tasks required.

Michael C. Bushaw is the vice-president and executive director of ASI Food Safety Consultants (St. Louis, MO). He is a certified instructor with the International HACCP Alliance. He is also certified auditor in the FPA-SAFE program and is an instructor and exam proctor with the National Restaurant Association Education Foundation (ServSafe). Reach him at 1-800-477-0778.