resulting in reduced product shelf-life. Cleaning is essential to minimise
microbial build-upand/orpresenceof biofilms on foodcontact equipmentand
surfaces as wellas the more generalenvironmental areas of foodproduction/
preparation premises(see Section 35.4.2).
Successfulcleaningin the foodindustryis importantfor other reasons,
including financialones.Inadequatecleaning can impair equipmentperform-
ance,reducingefficiency. Cleaning costsmoney (time,labour, equipment and
consumables) and failureto clean properly can literallymeanthrowingmoney
downthe drain!Adequatecleaningcan also be a legislativerequirementand is
mandated as suchin the EU for all foodproducts. Withinthe UK,the Food
SafetyAct 1990makesit an offenceto contaminatefoodso that it couldbe
unreasonable to expectit to be usedfor humanconsumption.In addition,the
FoodSafety(GeneralFood Hygiene) Regulations 1995 requirethe proprietor of
a business to identifythe stepsin the activitiesof the businessthat are critical to
ensurefoodsafety.Thereis therefore a clearobligation in law to keepfood
premises clean, wherever there is a risk to food.The same regulations stipulate
premises mustbe kept cleanand maintained in goodrepair and conditionand be
designedto allowpropercleaning.It is therefore not necessary to provethat a
particular soil or dirt is a risk for an offenceto be committed,onlythat dirt exists
(Dillonand Griffith,1999).Legislationrequiringcleaningpremises can also be
foundin other countries (USDA,2001).
The British RetailConsortium GlobalStandard ± Food(BRC FoodStandard)
accepted as part of the GlobalFood SafetyInitiative (GFSI)sets out the mini-
mumstandards majorEuropeanretailers expect fromtheirsuppliers. Evolving,
and likelyto becomemore, ratherthanless stringent, one section dealswith
cleaning and cleaningschedules and requiresthe effectiveness of cleaning to be
verified(BRC, 2005).Althoughnot a legalrequirement, failureto achievethe
standard could be of economic importance and mean considerable loss of
business/revenueto a foodmanufacturerby excludingthemfromimportant
markets.
Fig. 36.1 Possiblesourcesof contaminationfor ready-to-eatfoods.Improvingsurfacesamplingand detection of contamination 589