Environmental Foaming in Food Processing Plants: Essential Dos and Don’ts

Maintaining a clean and sanitary environment in food processing plants is crucial for ensuring food safety and quality. As you evaluate your SSOPs for environmental areas, here are some important things to start and stop for optimal results:

 

Dos

1. Thoroughly Rinse All Food Contact Surfaces
   • Before applying foam, make sure to rinse all food contact surfaces to remove any chemical and organic residues. This step is essential to prevent contamination and ensure the foam works effectively.
2. Use the Mixed Solution Within 8 Hours
   • Sterilex Ultra Disinfectant Cleaner Solution 1 + Sterilex Ultra Activator Solution is a 2-part product. To maintain the full efficacy of the solution, use it within 8 hours of mixing. This ensures that the active ingredients are at their most potent, providing the best sanitation results.
3. Apply Foam to All Surfaces
   • When applying foam, cover all surfaces, especially focusing on niches and known harborage locations where contaminants are likely to hide. Also, foaming from bottom to top allows you to adequately see your coverage and ensure you don’t miss a section.

 

Don’ts

1. Don’t Apply the Foam Too Thick or Too Thin
   • Thick foam requires more water to rinse off, making the process less efficient. Only the foam in direct contact with surfaces kills pathogens, so the extra foam is wasteful. Thick foam also struggles to penetrate harborage niches and, while it may look impressive, it doesn’t necessarily address microbial problems effectively.
   • Thin foam can lead to coverage problems and makes it difficult to identify where the product has been applied.
2. Don’t Scrub the Foam After Application
   • Avoid scrubbing the foam once it has been applied. Scrubbing can disrupt the foam’s structure and reduce its effectiveness in sanitizing surfaces.
3. Don’t Allow the Foam to Dry
   • Ensure that the foam remains wet during the 10-minute contact time needed to kill pathogens. Allowing it to dry can diminish its sanitizing properties and leave residues that may be difficult to remove.
4. Don’t Rinse the Foam Before the Required 10-Minute Contact Time
   • Give the foam at least 10 minutes of contact time before rinsing. This duration is necessary for the foam to effectively break down and eliminate contaminants.

These dos and don’ts serve as great reminders for proper application. Many of the questions and issues our TAC team encounters in the field stem from improper application. Ensuring the correct use of disinfectants not only protect the quality of your products but also safeguard the health of consumers.

Our team is always willing to help train sanitation teams on proper application and usage of Sterilex products. Reach out to the TAC in your area for personalized assistance.