Pipe Cleaners Are an Essential Component of Food Hygiene
The difference between cooking in the home and preparing food in a restaurant or hotel kitchen is largely a matter of scale and involves the use of pots, pans, and other utensils that tend to differ only in their capacity. By contrast, the methods used to produce processed foods in a factory are often radically different. It is not unusual, for instance, for one or more stages of the preparation process to be automated. Where measured amounts of an ingredient are introduced via a pipe, special cleaners are required to remove any residue from within them as part of the factory’s routine hygiene programme.
Once a production run is completed, any nutrients remaining within a tap or a tube must be cleared. Failure to do so would provide a breeding ground for bacteria and a potential danger to subsequent batches. To achieve this, special brushes of a suitable diameter must be inserted and used to loosen food residues so that the tubes and pipes can be rinsed free of them and suitably disinfected. For this, tube and pipe cleaners are the tools of choice.
Cleaning in this manner is not only essential to prevent the growth of harmful microorganisms that could contaminate processed foods, however. Sometimes the same equipment may be used to prepare different products and so, unless it is adequately cleaned when changing tasks, this could give rise to cross-contamination. While this might affect the taste of the first few units in a batch, unless suitable pipe cleaners are used to remove all traces of residual nutrients from the equipment, the consequences could be far more serious. Imagine the possible ramifications if traces of peanut butter were accidentally introduced into a product that is claimed to be free of this allergen.
Among the world-class hygiene products produced by Danish manufacturer, Vikan, are tank brushes and pipe cleaners with bristles of tough, steam-sterilisable polypropylene. In addition, for use where there may be a risk of cross-contamination, several of these come in a range of colours for coding purposes.
