Using Scrub Brushes for Nightly Cleaning
We are a "dry" mix manufacturer and one major item we run contains fats in the form of palm oil and some other hard to remove ingredients such as soy and egg.
We have validated that our procedure removes allergens, but upon getting a rinse water sample I believe that when we run this one particular set of products with fats, soy and egg we may have some of the fats remaining on the mixers. Our ATP and allergen swabs all come back good, again that doesn't tell me much about fats.
Our procedure is to use a Chlorinated Foaming Cleaner that sits on the surface for minimum of 15 minutes, a brush is used on corners to remove buildup, and then it is rinsed, and then sanitized.
I'm worried though that this rinse and foam isn't good enough. They have brushes for cleaning, but they can't possibly reach down into the mixers like they need to. I'm started to suspect that we need to do more scrubbing of the mixers, including deep scrubbing of the sides and blades.
Problem is that we have some push-back from upper level employees saying that bristles will come off in the mixer contaminating the product. My argument was that 1- they rinse after so that shouldn't be an issue. 2- we buy from the industry leader of brush suppliers and they are very high quality. 3- brushing during cleaning/sanitation is a standard practice and I have literally never heard of a bristle being found in product as a complaint.
I've argued that brushed used in cleaning is pretty industry standard, again I get push back saying that we are a dry manufacturer, so we shouldn't even have to wet clean. Again I bring up the fats, and then we go right back to bristles in product.
Am I making up brushes in cleaning/sanitizing being an industry standard practice? I've not pushed the topic bc like I said we get good swab results, but as I dig deeper into our programs I am finding some gaps.
Help, please.
Using brushes is normal practice all over food industries. RE: removing traces of fat - did you try deep steam cleaning? I know some meat companies, having listeria issues, do weekly steam cleaning after complete disassembly of their equipment.
My first thought was steam cleaning - then I saw that Olenazh noted steam cleaning as well.
I have a client that has same thing and then use steam cleaning - works great, as to the bristles, just need to buy good stuff. I have seen bristles come off, but most times from older brushes that are not maintained - it's all in the good buying and prevention plus having a good foreign material program. All doable.
My first thought was steam cleaning - then I saw that Olenazh noted steam cleaning as well.
I have a client that has same thing and then use steam cleaning - works great, as to the bristles, just need to buy good stuff. I have seen bristles come off, but most times from older brushes that are not maintained - it's all in the good buying and prevention plus having a good foreign material program. All doable.
So does steam replace my current cleaning, or use in conjunction with current cleaning practices? I've used a steam cleaner before in another facility, but it was a stand alone process for cleaning ceilings and walls.
If you are worried about bristles, I would suggest green pads. They also have long handled pad holders if you cannot reach all areas.