effects of cleaning compounds and sanitiz-
ers. Soil to be removed determines the clean-
ing method and cleaning compound.
Sanitation principles..............................................................................
Cleaned and sanitized equipment and
buildings are essential to the production,
processing, and distribution of wholesome
dairy products. The major part of the total
cleaning cost is labor. Therefore, it is impor-
tant to use appropriate cleaning compounds
and equipment so that the sanitation pro-
gram can be effectively administered in a
shorter period of time and with less labor.
The sanitarian should know the time
required to clean each piece of equipment
with the mechanization and cleaning com-
pounds available. Cleaning tasks should be
assigned to specific employees, who should
be made responsible for the equipment and
area under their care. These assignments
should be made through official notification
or by posting the cleaning schedule or
assignments on a bulletin board.
Role of Water
The major constituent of almost all clean-
ers, including those used by dairy plants, is
water. Because most plant water is not ideal,
the cleaning compounds selected should
be tailored to the water supply or should be
treated to increase the effectiveness of the
cleaning compound. It is especially impor-
tant to reduce suspended matter in water to
avoid deposits on clean equipment surfaces.
Water hardness complicates the cleaning
operation. Suspended matter and soluble
manganese and iron can be removed only by
treatment, whereas small amounts of water
hardness can be counteracted by sequester-
ing agents in the cleaning compounds used
in the sanitation operation. If the water is
hard or very hard, it is usually more eco-
nomical to pretreat the water to remove or
minimize hardness.Role of Cleaning Compounds
Like all other cleaning compounds, those
used in cleaning dairy plants generally are
complex mixtures of chemicals combined to
achieve a specific desired purpose. The fol-
lowing cleaning functions are related to the
role of cleaning compounds in dairy sanita-
tion operations:- Prerinsing is conducted to remove as
much soil as possible and to increase the
effectiveness of the cleaning compound. - The cleaning compound is applied to
the soil to facilitate subsequent removal
through effective wetting and penetrat-
ing properties. - Solid and liquid soils are displaced
through fat saponification, protein pep-
tizing, and mineral dissolution. - Soil deposits are dispersed in the clean-
ing medium by dispersion, defloccula-
tion, or emulsification. - Effective rinsing is conducted to pre-
vent redeposition of the dispersed soil
onto the cleaned surface.
The value of a cleaning compound is most
accurately determined by measuring the area
that can be cleaned efficiently with minimal
costs. High-cost cleaning compounds are fre-
quently the most economical because of
labor, energy, and cleaning compound sav-
ings. More discussion of cleaning com-
pounds is provided in Chapter 9.Application of Cleaning Compounds
Identification of the optimal external
energy factors and application methods is
necessary to facilitate cleaning. If cleaning is
done by hand, strong acids and alkalies
should be avoided because they irritate
human skin. Instead, emphasis should be
placed on external energy, such as heat and