Cleanliness and hygiene go hand-in-hand
Hygiene in the food industry is vital and extends beyond just the proper handling and preparation of food. Hygiene is also influenced by the equipment and environment of the commercial kitchen or food processing plant. Having easy to clean facilities improves the hygiene potential exponentially and in turn makes food production operations safer for all involved. Not meeting the requirements of safe food practices can have dangerous and devastating consequences with the spread of bacteria, harming our health and environment.
Planning and regulatory authorities dictate structural and equipment requirements of commercial kitchens and food processing plants and business owners must ensure that the fit out of their premises meet these criteria. The Baw Baw Shire Council in Victoria legislates that for a food premise to be considered safe and clean to operate in, all walls, ceilings, benches and cupboards must be in good condition and made from impervious, smooth and durable materials that are able to be easily cleaned.
The Hospitality Institute of Australasia (HIA) provides target hygiene measures to ensure best practice food preparation and service. This includes establishing proper protocol for the reporting of any issues, including cleaning and sanitising areas and equipment at correct time intervals and using commercial grade cleaning agents, utensils and equipment. Using products that have been designed with cleanability in mind reduces the amount of time required to adequately clean and sanitise an area, which ultimately gives the asset owner lifetime cost savings.
Beyond the hygienic design of the fit out, maintenance must also be addressed. To ensure adequate cleaning takes place, The Specialists suggest following strict cleaning regimes with meticulous routine checklists and cleaning schedules. By making all staff involved in food preparation and service aware of these requirements, food hygiene standards should be easily met.
The floor is naturally an area which gathers a lot of foot trafficked dirt and food scraps. Installing a vinyl or resin floor with easy-to-clean drainage channels helps businesses meet its hygiene and cleanliness requirements.
HygieneFirst
HygieneFirst is a philosophy developed by ACO for their commitment to hygienic drainage.
ACO have designed a range of hygienic gullies (ACO Gully) and hygienic linear channels (ACO Food) with cleanability and the resulting hygiene in mind.
These principals are at the forefront of all development and innovation.
Grates are slip resistant and designed with superior performance, safety as well as optimal ‘cleanability’ to ensure no small traps where bacteria can develop out of reach.
An ACO research partnership
ACO recently worked with a German research society Fraunhofer to conduct ‘cleanability’ tests on drainage products. The ACO hygienic channel was tested alongside a traditional non-hygienic drainage channel, both using the foaming and spray cleaning processes. This video shows how the cleaning time was dramatically reduced and residual dirt was eliminated completely with ACO’s hygienic channels.
The ACO Gully and ACO Food product lines are made up of a range of stainless steel floor gullies and channels. All grates, bodies and accessories have smooth, round edges for safe and easy handling, and the superior deep drawn bodies with large internal radii have smooth contours which facilitate easy, quick and effective cleaning.
The ranges offer a variety of grates, compliant to AS 3495 and grates are manufactured and tested in accordance with EN 1253 – Gullies for buildings. The wide range of slip resistant grates minimise the risk of injury in the workplace and, with proper maintenance, will prevent dangerous contamination.
ACO’s hygienic floor waste and channels are designed for optimum hygienic performance and user-friendliness, complementing food safety standard procedures in commercial kitchens and preparation plants.
Discover for yourself the HygieneFirst philosophy and range of hygienic drainage products. Call 1300 765 226, +61 2 4747 4000, visit www.acogully.com.au www.acofood.com.au or email sales@acoaus.com.au.
