COP sink - utensils - bakery
Hi, I work at a bakery where we dry clean everything. We try not to use any wet cleaning methods or chemicals where possible. (No egg or milk products are used at my facility.) So my question is based on the need for sanitizer. After cleaning utensils and bins with water and detergent, do you need to apply sanitizer? All utensils and bins are used pre-bake, so any biological contaminants would be killed in the baking step anyways. I like to think about my own home kitchen. I only use Dawn dish detergent then let my dishes dry. I don't get sick from not using a sanitizer. Also, all my other equipment is dry cleaned using brushes, scrapers, and vacuums. Mixers, slicers, conveyors, etc. With bakeries being such a dry environment, is sanitizer ever really needed? Our bakery is new to SQF. We were previously AIB which was A LOT LESS PAPER WORK, and they were okay with dry cleaning without sanitizer. I would like to think AIB is more of an expert on bakeries since it's their forte.
Good morning Steven,
Sanitation is different in a manufacturing setting rather than the home. There has to be higher level of sanitation & sanitary practices.
I'm not familiar with baking but it is true that the baking step does kill off most possible biological contaminants.
However, you want that initial bacterial load to be as low as possible going into the baking step by maintaining equipment clean & as sanitary as possible.
This is the proper way to clean & sanitize equipment, utensils, etc.:
Pre-rinse-> Clean-> Rinse -> Sanitize
To answer your question: yes, I would strongly advise towards the use of a sanitizer after cleaning.
Sanitizers for dry environments do exist, as far as I'm aware. A local chemical company may be able to assist in this regard.
Thanks!
Think of it this way
Every institution (hotel, restaurant, hospital etc) has to use sanitizer in the process of washing dishes, so you should too
Raw flour has been linked repeatedly to e coli and is NOT considered RTE prior to applying heat. The extra step of sanitizer use helps ensure you do not accidentally cross contaminate your facility and thus your finished goods
Hi,
I work at a bakery where we dry clean everything. We try not to use any wet cleaning methods or chemicals where possible. (No egg or milk products are used at my facility.)
So my question is based on the need for sanitizer. After cleaning utensils and bins with water and detergent, do you need to apply sanitizer? All utensils and bins are used pre-bake, so any biological contaminants would be killed in the baking step anyways.
I like to think about my own home kitchen. I only use Dawn dish detergent then let my dishes dry. I don't get sick from not using a sanitizer.
Also, all my other equipment is dry cleaned using brushes, scrapers, and vacuums. Mixers, slicers, conveyors, etc. With bakeries being such a dry environment, is sanitizer ever really needed?
Our bakery is new to SQF. We were previously AIB which was A LOT LESS PAPER WORK, and they were okay with dry cleaning without sanitizer. I would like to think AIB is more of an expert on bakeries since it's their forte.
Hi Steven,
Yr logic is not unreasonable that cross-contamination due post-baking steps is usually more critical from a micro. POV. This is why EMPG programs particularly focus on post-kill stages where a microbial thermal elimination stage occurs. (Think about the cooling, handling, packing, storage steps).
The cleaning/drying process does reduce overall surface microbial loads but remember that in USA, various pathogens are Regulatory zero tolerant for Safety if detected in the RTE product.. Hence the sanitizer.
I remember back to my hotel inspection days when I kept finding the same cleaning issue in every room I inspected and then the head housekeeper told me she teaches the housekeepers to clean the guest rooms just like they clean their own homes.
Nope - does not compute!
Must sanitize - the method of course does not need to be wet however.