Cleaning and Sanitizing
Farm Tools and Equipment
Virtual Labs
Watch intro video
Cleaning and sanitizing minimize potential contamination from pathogenic microorganisms on surfaces such as tools and equipment, thereby reducing cross-contamination and the incidence of foodborne illnesses. Proper sanitization is not only best practice, but a requirement of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule.
Covered farms must inspect, maintain, clean, and – when necessary and appropriate – sanitize all food contact surfaces, including tools and equipment to protect against the contamination of covered produce.
How to Clean and Sanitize
Learn the four basic steps of cleaning and sanitizing food contact surfaces, how to select and apply sanitizers, and why monitoring sanitizers is important.
How to Monitor Sanitizers
Test strips are an easy and cost-effective option for monitoring various sanitizers. Try testing chlorine at concentrations needed to sanitize tools and equipment.
Titration is a different but more precise way of monitoring sanitizer concentration used by some farm operations. While titration can test various sanitizers, this lab will monitor peroxyacetic acid (PAA).
