Keeping a food business clean is a day to day task and is seen as a chore by some. It cannot be stressed how fundamental cleaning can be in preventing contamination of food. It is also essential that the correct cleaning products are used for the proper task. A kitchen that looks clean may be riddled with food poisoning bacteria that are invisible to the naked eye and have the potential to kill.

Below is our practical guide to keeping your business clean.


1. Use the correct cleaning materials

A common mistake that is made in many food businesses is to use the incorrect materials for cleaning.

Detergents or Degreasers are required to clean items or areas which are greasy or oily. These materials do not kill bacteria. Degreasers are ideal for cleaning very greasy areas such as stainless steel cladding behind a cooking range or ventilation canopies. Detergents can be used on all other non-food contact surfaces in the kitchen such as the floor or shelving containing dried foods.

Disinfectants should be used on surfaces which come into contact with food or hands, and must be of a ‘food safe’ type. They kill bacteria but do not have cleaning properties. It is important to clean items or areas with detergent before using disinfectants.

Sanitisers are chemicals which have detergent and disinfectant properties. When used in food preparation areas they must be of a ‘food safe’ variety. We reccomend the use of sanitisers by all food businesses for cleaning food contact surfaces.

Care must be taken with the use of cleaning materials. The manufacturers instructions must always be followed and where protective equipment is suggested this must be used (e.g. the use of gloves).

It is very important that cleaning prodicts are not mixed as toxic gases can be given off that can damage health.

If cleaning chemicals are 'made up' with water, it is important that the manufacturers recommended water dilution level is used. If cleanig chemicals are too strong or too weak they may not clean or disinfect effectively.

It is a myth that stronger products are better, manufacturers instructions should always be followed for best cleaning and/or disinfection performance.

Further advice about the best cleaning chemicals for your business can be gained from your supplier.


2. Clean regularly

The longer that dirt and grease is left, the harder it is to clean. The secret to a clean business is a regular programme of cleaning the business and a 'clean as you go' policy. This means that if there is a food spillage, it should be cleaned immediately.

To assist in ensuring that all areas and equipment are cleaned regularly, you may wish to draw up a 'cleaning schdule'. This should state what should be cleaned daily, weekly and monthly. For example, food contact surfaces should be cleaned daily, whereas ventilation canopies may only need to be cleaned weekly. The frequency of cleaning will depend on your business. A business that cooks a lot of fried food, for example, will have to clean the ventilation canopy more regularly than a business that fries only a little food.

The cleaning schedule should then be signed and dated as the items on the list are cleaned.


3. Don't forget the hard to reach areas

The area underneath equipment and tables in food businesses is often missed when regular cleaning takes place. This is because they are hard to reach, cannot normally be seen and do not pose the same contamination risks as other surfaces such as food preparation tables.

Those hard to reach areas are the exact places that rodents, particularly mice, like to live. One mouse can survive by eating on pea per day. Food debris dropped behind and under equipment is usually sufficient to feed a whole family of mice! If food debris is available to the mice, they are less likely to take any poison baits that have been laid by your pest controller.

It is therefore essential that ALL food debris is swept up from the floor at the end of the working day to prevent mice and rats being attracted into your business and for baits to be effective if they do get in. This task is made easier if staff pick up any debris that falls behind equipment such as tables, fridges and freezers as they work.


4. Avoid cross contamination

The riskiest cleaning problems cannot be seen. Bacteria that is naked to the eye can be harmful, causing severe stomach ache, vomiting and diarrhoea and, in the some extreme cases, death.

Cross contamination is where raw foods, that may contain with harmful bacteria, contaminate ready to eat foods that should not contain any harmful bacteria and may be eaten immediately. Examples of raw foods include raw fruit, vegetables, eggs and, most importantly, meat

One way to prevent cross contamination is to physically seperate raw and ready to eat foods in storage. It is good practice to place raw foods at the bottom of fridges and freezers so any 'drip' does not contaminate any ready to east foods.

It is also good practice to have seperate preparation surfaces (such as chopping boards and tables) for preparing meat and ready to eat foods. Where this is not possible due to space restrictions, it is important that surfaces and hands are cleaned and disinfected before any ready to eat food is handled and prepared.

The aim of all food businesses should be to ensure that all ready to eat food is protected from raw foods so that cross contamination cannot occur.


5. Cloths and towels

What good is cleaning if you are using an old dirty cloth? Damp cloths and towels are frequently highly contaminated with bacteria and may just be spreading the bugs from one surface to another. Dirty cloths are an example of something that can cause cross contamination.

If cloths are used it is essential that they are clean and are regularly disinfected by boiling or soaking in a bleach solution.

We recommend the use of disposable paper cleaning towels that are used once then discarded for cleaning food contact surfaces in food businesses. Contact your cleaning materials supplier who will be able to give further infomation about suitable products.

Hints and Tips

Below are some hints and tips from Environmental Health Professionals and experienced caterers on cleaning at food businesses.

If you have any tips that you would like to share, please e-mail us so that we can add to the list.

Use a toothbrush to clean awkward fridge and freezer door seals.

Don't forget to clean the blade on your can opener! A can contains sterile food and a dirty can opener blade may introduce bacteria into the can.

Ensure that your ventilation filters are clean and the ventilation system is switched on during cooking. Grease from frying will settle on surfaces in the kitchen if ventilation is not working properly and is very hard to clean. Keeping windows and doors shut will also help the ventilation system to extract cooking fumes more efficiently.

Hot water also kills bugs. But be careful, to be effective the water must be above 80C and can scald skin at these temperatures.

Use a vacuum cleaner to suck up food debris in hard to reach areas. Don't give the mice an easy snack!

Bare wood is not easy to clean. All wood should be painted or varnished to a standard that allows it to be easily cleaned.