A sanitary plant is essential for a successful food safety program, start by implementing cleaning & sanitation standards and utilizing these seven essential steps:
Dry Clean/Teardown
Pre-Rinse/Washdown
Foam/Detergent Application
Scrub/Clean
Rinse
Inspection/Test
Sanitize
Each step should be carried out completely making sure to not skip or take any shortcuts and must be completed in this order. Proper execution of the 7-step sanitation method will improve your sanitation effectiveness and reduce your operating costs.
Dry Clean/Teardown
Good Housekeeping- messes during the production run should be cleaned up when they occur. This can reduce 20-30 minutes or more of the sanitation process. Remove all debris from the floor, take out any garbage and remove any solids or large particles from equipment. Begin tearing down any equipment that requires disassembly.
Washdown/Pre-Rinse
Being by rinsing surfaces to remove as many solids or particles as possible. We suggest using warm water ??? degrees to ??? degrees F. The less residue on the surface the more effective your detergent will be.
Foam/Detergent Application
Applying your detergent can be done either manually or with a mechanical foamer. Foaming applications can allow for a good visual of where the detergent was applied.
Scrub/Clean
Scrubbing all surfaces is crucial to ensure you have removed all debris to prevent build-up or potentially biofilm formation. Scrub all surfaces remembering to focus is niches and hard to reach areas.
Rinse
After you are finished cleaning is it important to rinse off all detergent that was applied. Some detergent residues have the ability to neutralize your sanitizer.
Validation/Verification
Verification should include a visual inspection for no debris or residue. It is important to perform any ATP testing at this point. This will allow for you to get an accurate reading and prevent a wasted application of sanitizer if your test comes in above the limit and needs to be re-cleaned.
Sanitize
Once the surfaces have been passed and are verified as “clean” you can begin to apply a sanitizer. If you are using a sanitizer that must be rinsed off allow for the product to left on the surface for a long enough time period to make it effective. Remember that the sanitizing step should be completed with enough time for the surface to dry before production starts back up.
