Q&A with Evan Reyes, Global Director of Sales, Sanitation Division, Goodway Technologies
Goodway Technologies provides cleaning and sanitation equipment for the food and beverage processing industry. They offer a range of products including dry steam cleaners, conveyor belt cleaning systems, industrial vacuums, and surface sanitizing equipment. They also specialize in innovative solutions such as CIP technologies and industrial vacuums. Their goal is to help improve hygiene and food safety, and increase production efficiency in food production plants.
QUESTION: Is steam safe to use around water sensitive equipment?
ANSWER: Thanks to the low moisture content of dry steam, we are able to use it to safely clean motors, conduit, control panels, and other areas where water use is typically not welcome. Some highly sensitive components like touch screen, power receptacles, and photo eyes should still not be directly steam cleaned, although you can steam clean in close proximity to these sensitive components without worrying about them getting wet.
QUESTION: How can you get to a passing ATP level without introducing cleaning chemicals to aid in the process?
ANSWER: In the right applications, our belt cleaning systems will do the job of a cleaning chemical to break down the soils using dry steam, and then we follow up with vacuum extraction to physically remove the soil from the belt. This is a powerful cleaning combination that leads to a very clean and completely dry belt surface.
We frequently see 0 ATP readings after the belt cleaning is completed, and are always within a passing ATP level after cleaning. One other benefit is that we provide a consistent cleaning across the entire belt surface, every time, eliminating the possibility of an operator missing a spot on the belt, failing a swab, and needing to re-clean.
On three recent occasions, I have talked with food safety leadership at mid- to large-sized processors about their food safety testing and sanitation programs. While these organizations each face some unique challenges, there was a common theme that was clear among them all: The creation of meaningful and timely reporting that is communicated effectively is typically just too cumbersome and manual today.
Other industries have digitally transformed the management of testing, diagnostic, and sanitation workflows. Take, for example, the healthcare industry, where the electronic health record (EHR) has become the standard means of system-wide communication of patient health and risk information. All testing and diagnostic data related to a patient is added to their EHR, making it far simpler for medical professionals to access and use in their assessment and determination of appropriate treatment programs and medications. In addition, the EHR makes it easier for health providers and payor organizations to access aggregate data to assess outcomes, risks, and other measures relevant to the organizations and the industry.
The banking industry, which years ago established online electronic banking as the standard means of transacting business, provides another digital transformation example. Each personal or business account holder can be seen as a source of transactions (analogous to a series of diagnostic results), where there is an expected outcome. The old way of banking, via manual, paper-based systems, had many limitations, including the risk of human error.
Resistance to change abounded in each of these examples, but the benefits of accelerating access to information, eliminating human error, and streamlining the ability to collect, assemble, and deliver impactful analytics, far outweighed the hesitancy to move forward with new digitally supported methods.
In the food and beverage manufacturing and processing industry, resistance has remained very strong within Food Safety & Quality functions. This resistance has largely been the result of food safety regulation being viewed as a “compliance” necessity, and it therefore does not receive the same attention as a business innovation that yields a business growth outcome.
New thinking on this conundrum is starting to generate a different perspective on the matter, however. Early adopters of digital food safety management platforms have found several business benefits beyond streamlined compliance outcomes. At the 2023 International Association for Food Protection (IAFP), a panel of food safety leaders from three different organizations discussed their experiences in adopting digital software for managing their testing programs. Excerpts from this event can be found in this video.
The main discussion centered on how each organization established a business justification for adoption of digital technology to manage their testing programs. Here are three effective justifications that I have heard from leadership, which also featured in the discussion at IAFP:
Time-to-Information: Digitally connecting testing workflows with the lab and triggering instant alerts as nonconforming results are detected is a major benefit. This can transform a team’s approach from reactive to being truly proactive and “preventative.” Catching issues before they blossom yields a huge business benefit, including the ability to launch and complete a Corrective Action without disrupting production.
Operational Up-time Gains: Many organizations see an unplanned clean-in-place (CIP) process or tear-down as “a cost of doing business.” It does not have to be. When testing data reveals a trend that can be detected before it results in a major cleaning and operational delay, the financial benefits are profound.
Team Efficiency and Fulfillment: Food safety technicians and leaders alike focus too much time on manually entering diagnostic result data and manipulating spreadsheets for reporting. Digital automation shifts the emphasis from data entry and preparation to analyzing and solving issues. This shift results in higher job satisfaction, less turnover, and lower costs in hiring and retraining.
If you are challenged with building a business justification for adoption of digital technology in your organization, perhaps the thinking in this article will provide a starting point.
Novolyze, developer of food safety and quality digitalization technology and solutions, was recognized as the Most Innovative Food Safety and Quality Software Company of 2023 by New World Report’s Software and Technology Awards.
The Software and Technology Awards, now in their fourth year, recognize companies across North and South America that demonstrate excellence, innovation, and a commitment to advancing technology. Novolyze’s patented technologies provide a comprehensive view of environmental monitoring, process control, sanitation, and other critical aspects of food safety and quality.
“New World Report’s award affirms Novolyze’s mission to revolutionize the food industry,” said Novolyze CEO Karim-Franck Khinouche. “Our SMART Food Safety & Quality platform of solutions ensures product safety without the need for costly testing, empowering efficient and waste-minimized food production, transforming our customers processes so consumers can enjoy safe, high-quality products with confidence.”
Novolyze recently appointed Laurent Vernerey to its Board of Directors. Vernerey brings more than 25 years of experience in industrial software to the board. He is currently an investor and board member of Tulip.co, a leading provider of no-code software for the industrial workforce. Prior to that, he held executive positions at Acuity Brands, where he oversaw its Technology Group, and Schneider Electric, as CEO for North America with an extensive software portfolio including Wonderware and Foxboro.
“Novolyze is at a pivotal time in the company’s growth, which makes it an exciting time to join their Board of Directors,” said Vernerey. “Novolyze has developed a truly innovative platform that is transforming the way food and beverage companies collect, analyze and leverage data. I am confident that my experience will help Novolyze achieve its ambitious goals.”
With 37 facilities and close to 500 suppliers, Kellogg works with a large and diverse workforce. Over the years, the company has implemented several strategies to teach and reinforce good food safety practices. As a member of the Alliance to Stop Foodborne Illness, the company works with Stop to share what they have learned with fellow food industry professionals. We spoke with Sherry Brice, Chief Supply Chain Officer and former VP of Global Quality and Food Safety at WK Kellogg Company, and Vanessa Coffman, Ph.D., Alliance Program Director at Stop Foodborne Illness, to share their insights on training, rewards and free tools that can help food companies of all sizes enhance their food safety culture.
What are some of the strategies that Kellogg is using to strengthen its food safety culture?
Sherry Brice
Brice: Some of the things that Kellogg has implemented over the years—and every year we evolve—include a campaign called “Kellogg Food Safety Own It Every Day.” The campaign is about driving engagement at every level of the organization. We have behaviors that we expect of our employees at the frontline leadership level, the executive level and the management level. We provide training on engagement strategies to better articulate food safety culture, including the things they should recognize and how they should recognize them. We also do virtual reality trainings that help to educate our people. After education and engagement, the third pillar is recognition—recognizing and rewarding people around food safety culture.
Is food safety training part of all employee’s onboarding?
Brice: We do have onboarding for new employees. We also do quarterly and annual trainings, because doing it one time is not enough. You have to repeat, repeat, repeat. We have food safety videos that we have launched in partnership with Stop Foodborne Illness that include real life experiences and stories of people who have dealt with foodborne illness. These help team members internalize the training and personalize it, so they are thinking about the impact their actions have on the customers we serve every day. We use one of the videos for onboarding and also leverage them for our annual training and refresh trainings as well.
How did Stop Foodborne Illness get involved with Kellogg and what kind of resources are available for companies?
Vanessa Coffman, Ph.D.
Coffman: Kellogg has been a member of the Alliance to Stop Foodborne Illness since 2021. We rely heavily on Sherry and her team’s insights in multiple work streams, one of which is the ever-growing video series that is posted to our food safety culture toolkit website, and these are all free and publicly available.
We created two customized videos with Kellogg, each featuring one of Stop’s constituent-advocates alongside a Kellogg executive. These remind employees why food safety is so important and emphasize the commitment that Kellogg has made to safe food. We’ve also worked together on gamified learning, leveraging some of the games that Kellogg uses in its training, and those can also be accessed in the toolkit that is free and publicly available.
Since Kellogg joined the Alliance, has that changed your training strategies or your recognition strategies?
Brice: Stop has given us access to their constituents, which really brings to life why food safety is so important at every level of the organization. Engagement with people who have been affected by foodborne illness is crucial to getting to the hearts and minds of employees, and emphasizing the importance what they do every day.
Since joining the Alliance, we have also added virtual reality to our trainings, starting with the most important one which is around sanitation. We created a virtual reality space where new employees—as part of onboarding—put the glasses on and go through our sanitation process. If you do not do the right step, it will not let you go forward. It’s a way to do hands-on training without having to actually be on the line.
The Alliance has been a great partner for Kellogg. It is an investment, but it is money well spent. When you hear the stories of their constituents, you cannot help but think, I never want a situation like that to be on my watch, what can I do to prevent this from happening?
Kellogg is a very large company. How do you ensure this training is happening and that you’re communicating a consistent message throughout the whole organization?
Ready to start improving your food safety culture? Join the Food Safety Culture Design Workshop on October 16, at the 2023 Food Safety Consortium.
Brice: We have a global quality council made up of members from regions around the globe. We all come together on that council to align and make sure we’re all on the same page in terms of what we are going to do to impact the broader organization, and then we disseminate that action out into the regions. This way, we ensure that we have the right ownership, and that everyone is clear on what needs to be done and how we’re going to do it. We also use the council to track and make sure that people are getting access to the videos and completing the training in the time that we have identified.
We created a toolbox tool that is crafted and geared toward Kellogg employees based on the region they’re in, and the council helps to disseminate that and then track that the work is being completed. We also incorporate this into our audit to make sure that people are internalizing the information and getting something out of it.
You mentioned training on engagement strategies, is that through role playing?
Brice: Yes, it really is about how to drive good behaviors, ownership, escalation and empowerment. If you’re a technician and you have to give feedback to a manager, that can really be intimidating, so we want to make sure we’re arming employees with the right tools. We do this in our training by simulating how to have these crucial conversations. If I go into a plant and I’m not following protocol, somebody is going to give me feedback, and I hope that they give it to me in the right way. We want to arm people with the knowledge on how to do that so that they’re comfortable giving that feedback no matter who they are.
Does Kellogg work with its suppliers to help train them as well?
Brice: We do work with our supply base and also our co-manufacturers (co-mans). Our co-mans get a lot of the same training that our plants get. We have an “owner” from the supplier management team that oversees each of the suppliers and that owner manages what training the supplier needs, depending on where that supplier is in their journey. We provide them with the toolbox from Stop, so they can leverage those resources. and we have found that very helpful because if that supplier has a great food safety culture that means we’re going to great materials. Likewise, if our co-mans have a great food safety culture then we feel more comfortable with what they’re producing for us.
In addition to the videos, what are some of the other ways that the Alliance to Stop Foodborne Illness partners with companies?
Coffman: The Alliance was formed in 2018, and we have worked with companies across the food system from farm to fork. We utilize the power of Stop Foodborne Illness constituents and their stories of foodborne Illness. These are people who survived a harrowing experience or the loved ones of those who did not. They will go onsite, take part in town halls, write down their stories and share them on our website, and they have also participated in the videos. We make customized videos for companies like Kellogg, and we’ve been able to leverage that content to create shorter videos that are more generic for the toolkit website.
We also work with companies to develop other materials. As Sherry mentioned, we have some gamified learning. People can download those games and tweak them to their own needs, and some of those have been provided by Kellogg. We’ve also been able to create communication plans based on the nearly 20 Alliance members’ experiences and food safety culture journeys, and we share those plans with the small and medium-sized companies at no cost.
Sherry mentioned recognition of employees, what are good ways to publicly recognize good work in protecting food safety?
Coffman: Like many aspects of food safety culture, it is going to be company dependent. You do want to solicit input from your employees before implementing a rewards program. For example, some people love employee of the month recognition, while others would rather not be publicly recognized. They would prefer a gift card or time off. If you go to our YouTube channel, you can watch some of our past webinars, including one on rewarding and recognition.
Brice: We implemented an “Achievers” platform. Through the platform, we give points to employees and those points can be used to purchase items. We also do on the spot recognition and recognition dinners. It depends on the situation and the person, but “Achievers” is our main recognition platform because we have found that our employees like this. They can trade their points in for a gift card, a T-shirt, a vacuum cleaner—there are many different things on the platform.
It is often said that every company has a food safety culture whether positive or negative, how do you go about assessing where you’re at to understand what you need to implement?
Brice: You can do this through surveys and small group sessions. Asking open-ended questions so people can provide content that helps you understand truly where you’re at and listening are important. Anonymous surveys maybe the best place to start because people may not be very open to speaking up during a small groups. The surveys help you understand where you’re at and what areas do you need to focus on first. Stepping back and looking at what’s happening every day in the company will also give you an understanding of where your company is. How do people feel about stopping a line if they see an issue? Are they comfortable speaking up?
Coffman: Assessment isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach. It has to be carefully thought out and will vary from company to company and even from location to location within the same company. I would like to add that assessment without action is fruitless. If you put forth the time and effort to collect and analyze data, you must take action.
Once you’ve done your assessment and are ready to improve your food safety culture, what are some of the steps you can take to get started?
Coffman: We have a page on our toolkit website dedicated to this, and it leverages learning from our 20 Alliance members from across the industry, looking at both the successes and the bumps they’ve encountered. It is going to look different for each company so I encourage everyone to go to the toolkit website and look at the Plan Your Journey tab.
Brice: The best plan includes people from all areas of the organization. You don’t want just the manufacturing base or the managers, you need to understand why people have the behaviors they have today and what needs to change. If all employees or departments feel that they have ownership in the plan, then the plan will come to fruition faster, and you’ll also create food safety champions along the way.
An affiliate of private investment firm Peak Rock Capital has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Rochester Midland Corporation (RMC), in partnership with RMC’s founding family and management team.
Founded in 1888, RMC is a leading supplier of specialty chemical products and value-added services across water energy, food safety, facility hygiene and other applications. The company works with thousands of businesses worldwide across diverse end markets including food and beverage, healthcare, packaging and facility services. RMC is headquartered in Rochester, New York, with additional facilities in the U.S., Canada and U.K.
“RMC represents an exciting opportunity to invest in a supplier of mission-critical services that enable customers to operate safely and efficiently. We look forward to helping the company accelerate its growth trajectory while pursuing complementary acquisitions to extend RMC’s production capabilities, geographical presence, and service offerings,” said Jordan Campbell, Managing Director of Peak Rock.
With food safety as a top priority for your business, keeping all pests out should also be top of mind. Stored product pests are tiny insects that can quickly damage your products and lead to lost profits. Glen Ramsey, board-certified entomologist and Director of Technical Services for Orkin, explains how facilities can keep stored product pests out of their facilities and why quick action is essential to successfully managing these pests if your facility confirms an infestation.
What are stored product pests?
Ramsey: Stored product pests are small insects, commonly beetles and moths, that feed on the ingredients in food manufacturing and handling facilities. These pests mainly target dry foods such as grains, cereals, seeds, chocolate and fruit. Depending on their feeding habits, they are categorized as external feeders, internal feeders, secondary feeders or scavengers.
Why are they harmful in food-handling facilities?
Ramsey: While they don’t cause structural damage or spread diseases, stored product pests can cause significant damage to stored goods resulting in lost product and lost profits for your business. These pests breed rapidly, so it’s important to look for signs of their activity and act quickly if you notice their presence. In addition to damaging your ingredients, many stored product pests can produce chemicals that alter the taste of food, and some of their larvae can irritate the digestive tract or even cause allergic reactions in vulnerable people.
What prevention methods can I implement to help avoid this pest issue?
Ramsey: Managing stored product pests takes a comprehensive strategy, which is where Integrated Pest Management (IPM) comes into play. Instead of relying on chemical treatments, IPM focuses on a proactive cycle of inspection, sanitation and monitoring tactics. Here are a few ways you can be proactive in helping to prevent stored product pest problems in your facility between pest control visits:
Storage
Store ingredients off the floor and at least 18 inches away from walls to allow access for staff to inspect and clean the area.
As a precaution, remove any products that are damaged or found in poor condition.
Try to maintain storage rooms at 55 degrees Fahrenheit or lower; stored product pests are generally inactive at these lower temperatures.
Sanitation
Use a vacuum with a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter to remove debris from cracks and crevices.
Immediately clean up any product spills and encourage employees to do the same.
If you haven’t yet, start a continuous deep-cleaning program to ensure that every shelf is inspected, vacuumed and wiped down at least twice per year.
Ingredient Care
Inspect incoming shipments for signs of pests, such as webbing, larvae and live adult insects. Pay close attention if your packaging material has been damaged, as this can alert to product infestations.
If any suspicion of activity is seen, even only on the surface of the product, use a grain probe or similar instrument to inspect and determine the extent of the infestation.
Quarantine known infested product away from clean product.
Set aside a sample of every shipment in a closed, labeled plastic container. If insects appear over time, immediately quarantine and inspect any remaining product and notify your supplier.
Rotate ingredients on a first-in, first-out basis to help prevent them from deteriorating and inviting scavengers and secondary feeders.
When it comes to monitoring and managing stored product pests in your facility, you should work with a pest management provider. Make sure the provider you select is reliable and knowledgeable about the food and beverage processing industry.
About the Expert:
Glen Ramsey, MS, BCE
Director of Technical Services, Orkin, LLC
Glen Ramsey is Director of Technical Services for Orkin. He is a board-certified entomologist and provides technical support and guidance across all Rollins brands in the areas of training and education, operations, and marketing. For more information, email gramsey1@rollins.com or visit www.orkincommercial.com.
A study published in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems (May 2023) looked at Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) contamination patterns in three produce processing facilities—one with a cut iceberg lettuce line, one with a cut fruit line and one with a salad bowl line. Lead author Ana Allende, Ph.D., and her team from the CEBAS-CSIC research institute in Spain also tested biocides against resident Lm populations to gauge efficacy and potential loss of sensitivity.
The two-year project was designed to yield practical data about produce facilities’ environmental monitoring plans as well as the efficacy of sanitation programs.
Their first objective was to understand how different factors such as zoning, sanitary design and connectivity affected the probability of contamination in different fresh produce processing facilities. In the case of salad bowls, the ingredients included not only leafy greens and other vegetables but also proteins from meat, fish and cheese, or pastas from different sources.
The researchers divided the processing areas into three zones based on their proximity to contact with the produce. Zone 1 involved areas with direct contact, such as knives and conveyor belts. Zone 2 included surfaces that did not contact food but were in close proximity. Zone 3 included more remote noncontact surfaces, such as drains, floors and ceilings, that could potentially lead to contaminating zones 1 and 2.
The researchers conducted systematic sampling of the facilities at the end of the day before cleaning and sanitizing. They also resampled the three processing lines after the cleaning and disinfection activities. In addition to the more than 600 total samples from the three zones, the researchers collected 45 samples from raw ingredients and end products.
Findings
Regardless of the facility, the highest number of positive Lm samples came from Zone 3. Whole genome sequencing revealed that the same two serotypes of Lm were found on the three processing lines after the two samplings, before and after cleaning.
“This makes us understand that these serotypes are inherent and are moving from zone 3 to zone 1,” said Allende.
When evaluating the efficacy of biocides against resident Lm isolates, “we found, indeed, all of the isolates obtained from the environment after cleaning were sensitive to the biocides,” she said.
While the research aimed to provide relevant results for the three cooperating produce processors, it also has broader implications for the produce industry about how they should conduct environmental monitoring including sampling after processing just before cleaning, Allende said. In addition, it should help processors better understand the main contamination points in zone 1 and how they relate to identical or similar Lm sequence types in zones 2 and 3.
“One of the hypotheses we had was the raw material was introducing much of the Listeria,” she said. “This was before we did sampling and the whole genome sequencing to understand the isolates and that they were not all coming from the raw material. Some of the contamination was probably coming from zone 3 in the different processing facilities.”
Food companies have to manage a variety of pests seeking harborage, food, water and other resources in their facilities. Among these pests, flies can be some of the most difficult to manage. Frank Meek, technical services manager for Orkin and board-certified entomologist with 36 years’ experience in the food industry, shares strategies to you can take to mitigate the risk of flies in your food facility.
Why are flies such a problem for food companies?
Meek: Flies are prolific breeders, carriers of multiple potential pathogens, vectors of contamination and a costly pest for food manufacturing and processing facilities if not handled appropriately. One female fly can create hundreds of eggs in five or six days and potentially introduce many microorganisms and pathogens.
Which types of flies pose the greatest risk to food establishments?
Meek: The types of flies most likely to impact food-handling establishments are:
“Filth” flies, which can transmit bacteria and other pathogens to surfaces
Attracted to odors first, then food waste, organic build up, sewage and feces
g., house flies and blow flies
“Nuisance” flies, which typically do not transmit pathogens, but can still cause harm
Attracted to overripe or decaying fruits, vegetables or other organic materials
g., fruit flies, drain flies and phorid flies
How can you keep flies from entering your facility?
Meek: Flies don’t need a lot of space to get in and out of buildings. They typically enter buildings through frequently opened doors and improperly sealed openings such as drains/pipes, ventilation systems and windows. Because of this, exclusion—using preventive methods to help eliminate pest entry points—will help to keep flies out.
Seal any unplanned cracks, holes and crevices as soon as you notice them to avoid pests accessing your building.
Seal all doors and windows with weather stripping.
Limit direct lighting around the entrances of your facility.
If you must have lighting near the entrances, use sodium-vapor light bulbs, as these are less appealing to insects than fluorescent bulbs (which draw pests in, especially at night) or indirect lighting.
The best way to deter flies is to seek a pest control provider that offers an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program. A successful IPM program is proactive, environmentally conscious and addresses the reasons pests are attracted to your facility. IPM is a team effort between you and your pest control provider. Once implemented, your IPM program should be reviewed at least annually with your pest management professional to ensure continued improvement.
How can facilities improve sanitation methods to prevent infestations?
Meek: Ensure you have a rigorous sanitation routine that addresses high and low pest-pressure areas within your facility. If you already have a schedule, work with your pest control provider to review it so it includes the following:
Keep dumpsters and trash cans as far away from the facility as possible.
Work with your waste management company to routinely clean or rotate your dumpster.
Install odor control devices where needed to eliminate foul smells that might attract flies.
Remove trash, debris and food from areas like employee lockers or breakrooms multiple times throughout the day.
Keep tight lids on interior trash receptacles, change the liners daily and regularly clean out the bottom of the bins.
Sanitation teams should also regularly clean machinery that handles food, as joints and crevices can build up organic matter and attract pests.
If you have a fly infestation, how do you get control of that and reduce future issues?
Meek: There are several steps you can take to control and prevent infestations. They include:
Sanitation Routine: should be rigorous to help eliminate fly eggs, habitats and attractants
Work with your pest control provider to review your current cleaning program and make any needed changes to frequencies.
At times, non-residual and / or residual pesticide application may be needed to help reduce populations
Traps and Fly Lights: monitor the efficiency of your overall fly control program, but they are not a complete control option
Mechanical traps can be used in many areas of your facility. Your pest control provider can work with you to determine the best locations and type of device needed.
Installing fly lights will allow you to monitor fly activity.
Employee Training: can help catch pest issues before they become a bigger problem
Work with your pest control provider to train your staff on how to spot and report signs of pest activity.
Most pest control providers offer complimentary staff training that clarifies the role your employees play in preventing pest infestations.
Biofilms, those slimy films of bacteria that cling to surfaces, can wreak havoc on your equipment and harbor dangerous pathogens that contaminate your products. And they are not easy to detect or remove. Charles Giambrone, Food Safety Manager, Rochester Midland, shared strategies for the detection, remediation, and control of biofilms at the Food Safety Tech Hazards Conference in April.
“Biofilms are how microbes look to survive in nature and within your food plant,” said Giambrone, “and they can form quickly—within 13 hours.”
Biofilms form on any equipment with a large surface area and, in addition to contaminating food, they can damage equipment. “Once you get biofilms on the conveyor belts, you have slippage,” said Giambrone. “Just as biofilm plague will rot your teeth, biofilms form acid that corrode equipment. Eliminating biofilms can increase performance and prolong the lifespan of equipment.”
Detection of Biofilms
If you are seeing any of the following, it is a sign that you have a biofilm(s) in your facility:
Sporadic out of spec environmental test results
Rainbow appearance on stainless steel
Decreased shelf life of product
Increased bacterial count in finished product
Spike in bacterial counts that disappear and reappear
“When you get these spikes, where the bacterial count goes down and then whips up, that is a biofilm,” said Giambrone.
Where Biofilms Like to Lurk
The most common areas for biofilm formation include dead legs, slow-moving water lines, conveyors, floors, drains, pipeline or filler gaskets, and pump valves and gasket junctions. “You must do periodic tear downs to clean gasket junctions because the CIP (clean in place system) cannot reach these areas,” he said.
Control and Remediation
Removal of biofilms requires mechanical action as well as the application of strong chemicals applied for a lengthy contact time. “You need to detach the biofilm from its surface with mechanical action,” said Giambrone. “The irreversible adhesion of biofilm prevents a CIP system’s shear flow rate forces from properly stripping biofilm from a surface.”
High water temperatures (based on the specific cleaner you are using) are necessary for removal, but Giambrone cautioned against use of the FDA-approved temperature of 180 degrees F. “You want hot water—about 130 degrees F—not scalding (180 degrees F), because scalding water fixes the protein to the surface making it harder to clean, and it’s also a safety hazard,” he said, noting that contact time is also important. “Increased contact time of cleansers/sanitizers will yield better results.”
The goal of your biofilm removal process is to detach biofilms from the surface, break down the community into small components via detergents, surfactants, and mechanical action, and then completely destroy the detached subsections via true oxidative sanitizers: PAA, chlorine or ozone.
Additional risk factors for biofilm formation include:
Extended run operations
Dry cleaning only during the week
Equipment cleaned daily but not with a stringent regimen to remove biofilms
Walls and drains not cleaned every 24 hours
The agents Giambrone recommended for biofilm remediation include: Chlorinated alkaline cleaners, acidic cleaners, EDTA (chelating agents), which remove minerals from biofilm matrix—“These are very effective in removing the biofilm from the surface,” he said—and enzymatic cleansers.
Superheated Steam (SHS) may offer dry facilities a new, effective option to destroy pathogens on produce harvesting, processing, and packing tools. SHS differs from the visible, wet steam vapor emitted by a tea kettle in that it is invisible and acts like a hot gas at super-high temperatures. Applied to surfaces, SHS has been shown to kill pathogens without leaving moisture or condensation. However, little is known about its performance on a pilot scale.
She also plans to address other considerations, including cost, range of applications, wear and tear on equipment, changes to ambient relative humidity and worker safety.
“It’s a really tough problem to solve,” Dr. Snyder said. “We wanted to bring some practical assessments to our academic research to better understand whether these tools would be useful to the industry.”
Joining her as co-principal investigator is V.M. Balasubramaniam, Ph.D., with Ohio State University, who brings expertise in food and agricultural engineering. “He’s an important collaborator because the project is at the intersection of produce safety and process engineering,” said Dr. Snyder, whose background is microbial food safety. “This is an interdisciplinary approach to developing novel sanitation technology.”
The researchers are using portable pilot-scale roll-along and backpack units fabricated by a collaborating manufacturer. As part of the project, they reviewed Occupational Safety and Health Administration guidelines and developed worker safety and operator compliance training.
Initial trials looked at thermal distribution across stainless steel coupons—or discs—at ambient temperatures using three different coupon thicknesses and three different nozzle distances. Temperatures at the contact point ranged from 170 to 320 degrees C (338 to 608 degrees F), depending on nozzle distance. The researchers plan to conduct similar tests with concrete coupons as well as ones made of materials used in picking bags.
Although SHS doesn’t use large amounts of water, it is unknown whether prolonged use of the technology could change ambient relative humidity in enclosed spaces, depending on size and ventilation. As part of the project, Dr. Snyder said they will look at whether those relative humidity changes could potentially lead to condensation with extended SHS use. They also plan to characterize how rapidly temperature dissipates across surfaces.
One of the project’s objectives is to better understand how much the industry would be willing to pay for SHS technology. To that end, Dr. Snyder is conducting an online survey that proposes different scenarios.
Because SHS doesn’t use large amounts of water, the technology could offer the produce industry potential water savings in addition to more sanitation options.
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Cookie Policy
A browser cookie is a small piece of data that is stored on your device to help websites and mobile apps remember things about you. Other technologies, including Web storage and identifiers associated with your device, may be used for similar purposes. In this policy, we say “cookies” to discuss all of these technologies.
Our Privacy Policy explains how we collect and use information from and about you when you use This website and certain other Innovative Publishing Co LLC services. This policy explains more about how we use cookies and your related choices.
How We Use Cookies
Data generated from cookies and other behavioral tracking technology is not made available to any outside parties, and is only used in the aggregate to make editorial decisions for the websites. Most browsers are initially set up to accept cookies, but you can reset your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent by visiting this Cookies Policy page. If your cookies are disabled in the browser, neither the tracking cookie nor the preference cookie is set, and you are in effect opted-out.
In other cases, our advertisers request to use third-party tracking to verify our ad delivery, or to remarket their products and/or services to you on other websites. You may opt-out of these tracking pixels by adjusting the Do Not Track settings in your browser, or by visiting the Network Advertising Initiative Opt Out page.
You have control over whether, how, and when cookies and other tracking technologies are installed on your devices. Although each browser is different, most browsers enable their users to access and edit their cookie preferences in their browser settings. The rejection or disabling of some cookies may impact certain features of the site or to cause some of the website’s services not to function properly.
Individuals may opt-out of 3rd Party Cookies used on IPC websites by adjusting your cookie preferences through this Cookie Preferences tool, or by setting web browser settings to refuse cookies and similar tracking mechanisms. Please note that web browsers operate using different identifiers. As such, you must adjust your settings in each web browser and for each computer or device on which you would like to opt-out on. Further, if you simply delete your cookies, you will need to remove cookies from your device after every visit to the websites. You may download a browser plugin that will help you maintain your opt-out choices by visiting www.aboutads.info/pmc. You may block cookies entirely by disabling cookie use in your browser or by setting your browser to ask for your permission before setting a cookie. Blocking cookies entirely may cause some websites to work incorrectly or less effectively.
The use of online tracking mechanisms by third parties is subject to those third parties’ own privacy policies, and not this Policy. If you prefer to prevent third parties from setting and accessing cookies on your computer, you may set your browser to block all cookies. Additionally, you may remove yourself from the targeted advertising of companies within the Network Advertising Initiative by opting out here, or of companies participating in the Digital Advertising Alliance program by opting out here.
