Cleaning and Sanitizing Practices That Will Prevent Cross-Contamination. Westchester Food Safety
No matter how carefully food is cooked, without a clean and sanitized environment, pathogens can be quickly transferred to both cooked and uncooked food. To prevent cross-contamination from surfaces, the correct cleaning and sanitizing procedures must be followed.
Cleaning and Sanitizing.
Food-contact surfaces must be both cleaned and sanitized correctly. Cleaning removes food and other dirt from a surface. Sanitizing reduces pathogens on a surface to safe levels.
How Cross-Contamination Can Occur.
Pathogens can spread to food if equipment has not been cleaned and sanitized correctly. This can happen in the following ways.
Equipment and utensils are not washed, rinsed, and sanitized between uses.
Food-contact surfaces are wiped clean rather than being washed, rinsed, and sanitized.
Wiping cloths are not stored in a sanitizer solution between uses.
Sanitizing solutions are not at the required levels
to sanitize objects.
Any surface that touches food, such as knives, stockpots, cutting boards, and prep tables, must be cleaned and sanitized. To clean and sanitize a surface, follow these steps:
Scrape or remove food bits from the surface.
Wash the surface. Rinse the surface.
Sanitize surface.
Allow time to Air-dry.
All food-contact surfaces must be cleaned and sanitized after they are used; before food handlers start working with a different type of food; any time food handlers are interrupted during a task and the items being used may have been contaminated; and after four hours if items are in constant use.
The best way to learn and learn the proper food safety skills is to get Servsafe certified. Call Westchester Food Safety. We serve the tri-state- NY, CT & NJ. Westchester and Fairfield County. www.westchesterfoodsafety.com