5 replies to this topic

[SAMJHANA]

Hello everyone,

I work for a walnut company.We have a dry sanitation program in place that has given us good results in the past years.Most of the equipment are stainless steel along with plastic sorting belts and elevator buckets.

We accumulate a lot of soil buildup (dust and oil) in the  equipments from the walnuts and it meal.  Our basic protocol is to  blow off most of the the dust with air pressure gun, vacuum it, clean manually with dry rags and then spray surface sanitizer (Alpet D2) in the end. The amount of alpet D2 sprayed largely determines our ATP and microbiological results as it is doing dual job of cleaning and sanitizing.

 

My company wants to introduce some kind of cleaning agent before we sanitize with alpet D2. They are looking for options to reduce our sanitation cost as we use very large amount of Alpet  D2 everyday and depend on it for good results.

 

One of our chemical supplier suggested using  3% hydrogen peroxide solution. They are suggesting us to use wet rags instead of dry rags. However, I'm concerned that it will be introducing moisture in the plant and may damage our walnut product. I tried finding literature about it but only found about their use in wet sanitation program.

 

Sorting belts are my biggest concern. The lower part of the belt is porous  and has lot of soil formed under it. They are not taken off the line to clean everyday  and are very firmly attached to the stainless steel frame.It is not possible to take off the belt every time we clean. We take them off monthly depending on need/ work load. I am worried using water based product will absorb the wetness and may not dry out properly affecting products eventually. Even stainless steel may have residual wetness  after cleaning since water does not evaropate off.

 

Does anyone have  similar experience in the dry plant? Any suggestions on sanitation methods, cleaning agents or use of  water based products like hygrogen peroxide solution will be highly appreciated.

 

Thank you .

Sam

Edited by SAMJHANA, 20 June 2019 - 04:49 PM.

[The Food Scientist]

I worked at a nut company as well in the past. We also had dust and oil build up with stainless steal equipment. However we used wet sanitation. We used a detergent that was applied in pressure, along with extremely hot water following it. We then moved on to another new detergent that was caustic, Also pressure washing followed by sanitizer. We dedicated around 2 hours to do this daily.  We didn't use any rags unless we did product changeover and it needed a quick clean. The biggest concern here would be Listeria growing as it thrives in these conditions. You can discuss this with your sanitation company and see what they suggest to you. Also make sure you have your EMP in place to make sure you have everything under control. I hope that helps! :)

Edited by The Food Scientist, 20 June 2019 - 06:04 PM.

[SAMJHANA]

I worked at a nut company as well in the past. We also had dust and oil build up with stainless steal equipment. However we used wet sanitation. We used a detergent that was applied in pressure, along with extremely hot water following it. We then moved on to another new detergent that was caustic, Also pressure washing followed by sanitizer. We dedicated around 2 hours to do this daily.  We didn't use any rags unless we did product changeover and it needed a quick clean. The biggest concern here would be Listeria growing as it thrives in these conditions. You can discuss this with your sanitation company and see what they suggest to you. Also make sure you have your EMP in place to make sure you have everything under control. I hope that helps

 

Thank you for sharing your experience however, we do not have water drains in the plant.The daily sanitation procedure has been 100% water free so far. We only use wet sanitation process when the equipment are taken a part and outside of the facility as apart of downtime cleaning/ master cleaning.

 

We do store walnuts in a segregated location inside the plant at all times (raw products staging/ WIP) and do not want to risk introduction of moisture into the plant  with complete wet sanitation.

Thank You

 

Edited by SAMJHANA, 20 June 2019 - 06:43 PM.

[The Food Scientist]

 

I worked at a nut company as well in the past. We also had dust and oil build up with stainless steal equipment. However we used wet sanitation. We used a detergent that was applied in pressure, along with extremely hot water following it. We then moved on to another new detergent that was caustic, Also pressure washing followed by sanitizer. We dedicated around 2 hours to do this daily.  We didn't use any rags unless we did product changeover and it needed a quick clean. The biggest concern here would be Listeria growing as it thrives in these conditions. You can discuss this with your sanitation company and see what they suggest to you. Also make sure you have your EMP in place to make sure you have everything under control. I hope that helps

 

Thank you for sharing your experience however, we do not have water drains in the plant.The daily sanitation procedure has been 100% water free so far. We only use wet sanitation process when the equipment are taken a part and outside of the facility as apart of downtime cleaning/ master cleaning.

 

We do store walnuts in a segregated location inside the plant at all times (raw products staging/ WIP) and do not want to risk introduction of moisture into the plant  with complete wet sanitation.

Thank You

 

 

 

Your weclome. Then I believe if you do not want to risk anything, you should keep doing what you're doing. Perhaps find alternative sanitizers that perhaps cost a little less? Because if you want to introduce another cleaning agent before the sanitizer I believe you would want to use water or a wet rag. 

[Plastic Ducky]

OK

 

I also admit I am guilty of using Alpet D2 non-quat sanitizer.

 

It makes everyone happy from Kosher to Organic and works very well. It is  a pretty penny though. We use it in spray bottles for our dry sanitation. 

 

We do mostly dry formulations and dietary supplements. Big time focus on no water ever except for COP stuff.

[Plastic Ducky]

I have heard there are similar alcohol based non-rinse sanitizers that are cheaper, but need just a bit more time to evaporate (less than 1-2 minutes?)