Page 53 - FoodFocusThailand No.160 July 2019

STRONG QC & QAQA
Cleaning & STRONG QC &

Disinfection

Food safety standards are keys to ensure food production meets GMP, PRP
or CP standards, especially the global food safety standards (GFSI). Not
only materials, ingredients, and tools must be cleaned, the proper cleaning
of related tools and equipment is a crucial part of business operations.

Cleaning is the removal of dirt, food scraps,
dust, grease or unfavored other substances.
Cleaning can occur in both physical and
chemical systems. In term of physical cleaning,
it can be done by water, making the stains
soften and scrub off or use a solution to remove
stains on the surface of the object. In term of
cleaning with the chemical reaction, such as
the use of water to break down proteins and
carbohydrates, which is hydrolysis, or the use
of soap to remove oil (Saponification), removal
of metals (Chelate), or oxidation.

Type of Cleaning
Cleaning can be divided into dry cleaning,
which can be used without water and remove
dirt in the first step. After that, we may use
brush or vacuum machine to move residual or
wipe away stains. Often, this kind of cleaning
is used with flour products, rice, cereals, and
dried foods, etc. The other type of cleaning is
wet cleaning, which three steps: pre-rinse,
detergent cleaning, and post-rinse. This
method is used for cleaning the machine and
equipment and floor cleaning every time after
used.
The use of suitable cleaning and
disinfectants should be considered from the
type of dirt. In general, dirt can be divided into
4 types; (1) water-soluble such as small
molecule carbohydrates, sugar, some kind of
salt like sodium chloride salt, and some
starches; (2) base- soluble such as protein,
starches attach with protein and fat, and
biofilm; (3) acid-soluble such as alkali water
(calcium and magnesium salt) and manganese
steel slag; (4) surfactants-soluble such as fat,
oil, grease, food waste, other impurities such
as gravel, rock, soil, metal and some biofilm.
Cleaning agents in the food industry are often
found as mixtures of substances with different
properties. Thus, type of cleaning must be fit
with type of dirt, surface of tool, machinery and
equipment. Before using chemical substance
for cleaning, we should carefully study on its
nature, precautions, safety information.

JUL 2019 FOOD FOCUS THAILAND 53

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