TOMORROW’S CLEANING AUGUST 10
Taste of success
NEIL BROWN OF THE HYGIENE GROUP TELLS US HOW WE CAN TAKE THE COST OUT OF CLEANING WHEN LOOKING AT THE FOOD HYGIENE SECTOR.
In the food sector, a clean environment is essential for safe and legal handling and processing. It can represent a significant cost as it is something that simply has to be got right to avoid contamination and ramifications down the line. Yet many food production and processing plants are actually spending far more than they need to on both cleaning and wastage resulting from inefficiencies in production and cleaning processes.
A frequently far more time-consuming task is the removal of highly adherent, stubborn substances which are spilled into food handling areas, whether as a result of carelessness or inadequately functioning machinery.
Once congealed, thickening agents such as lecithin, and other common ingredients such as malt, syrup and honey are a nightmare to remove, even with sophisticated cleaning agents. Indeed, if present from the start of a shift and not wiped away immediately by production operatives, cleaners can expect a lengthy task to restore the affected equipment to a clean, usable condition. Yet it would be very simple for production managers to build, for example, an hourly surface check and wipe- over into the daily schedule.
Waste is also created indirectly when ingredients or even completed items are not cleared away and correctly stored at the end of a shift. In some large-scale bakeries, for
example, it is commonplace for trays of loaves or pies to be left to cool in ovens or on open trays. Yet as soon as these products come into contact with any cleaning products sprayed in the room, or even just water, they have to be discarded.
As well as enhanced production processes, companies can do more to ensure the cleaning process itself works optimally. It may be surprising to learn that in some food processing environments which are cleaned overnight, the available hot water typically only lasts until 2am. In fact many factories do not provide sufficient hot water to last for the whole cleaning cycle. Yet it is proven that raising the temperature of water used for cleaning by 10°C can as much as halve the required cleaning time. There is, of course, a cost for heating the water, but it is invariably lower than the extra time needed to clean with colder water.
Properly maintaining the equipment used for cleaning will also help reduce cleaning time. For example, many of the ‘pressure-pot’ foam generators commonly used in food production environments are illegal. They are air receivers, and it is a legal requirement that they, as well as the air compressors, are regularly tested.
Incorrect dosing - using detergents and other cleaning products at a lower or higher dilution than prescribed - is again wasteful of both time and product, as the wrong strength of mix will invariably impact negatively on cleaning effectiveness. It’s a myth that using a stronger
mix will clean better or more quickly, as a certain amount of water is needed to suspend removed material, while too weak a mix will not get the job done.
Material wastage isn’t helped by another common misperception - that having a lot of water around makes for a cleaner working environment – with the result that hoses are often left running unattended for hours on end. This is highly wasteful of a precious and increasingly expensive resource - to say nothing of the health and safety risks posed to both production staff and cleaning operatives by a permanently, and often unnecessarily, wet and slippery floor.
While cleaning is a necessity, its cost can be reduced if companies are prepared to take a few simple steps in terms of managing both production and cleaning - minimising both the time and resources used, and wastage of ingredients and end product, and thus impacting positively on the bottom line.
www.hygiene.co.uk
The future of our cleaning industry | TOMORROW’S CLEANING | 49 FOOD HYGIENE
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