EHA Group Food Safety and Epidemiology Blog

What sanitizer?

In retail foodservice, there are essentially three accepted sanitizing agents for use. These include chlorine bleach, iodine and quartanary ammonium or “quat”.

Each of these sanitizers will be effective in eliminating a vast majority of bacteria from a properly cleaned food contact surface, but your operation must chose the best chemical for its needs based on cost, ease in use and safety concerns. Right now, the sanitizer of choice in many retail enviroments seems to be quat sanitizer.

Clean Versus Sanitized

What is the difference between “clean”, “sanitized” and “sterilized”? Clean means free of visible soil. Sterilize means free of all germs – ie bacteria and viruses.

In the food service environment, it is impossible to sterilize items, therefore, we rely on the next best thing and that is to “sanitize” or reduce the number of viable organisms on a food contact surface to an acceptable level.