Food businesses are being urged to
heed the warnings of health chiefs and ‘wipe out’ the use of
unhygienic cleaning cloths.
A survey of 120 premises across the North East
of England – including around 20 in Hambleton and Richmondshire –
found unacceptable levels of bacteria in cleaning cloths used in
kitchens.
This can lead to poor hygiene, cross
contamination and may result in illness in customers.
Now environmental health officers from the two
authorities want to see disposable cloths used in all kitchens –
and are asking food bosses to stop the practice of trying to clean
reusable cloths by soaking them in bleach.
The disinfectant properties of bleach wear off
after a certain period of time so soaking large amounts of cloths
together can result in bacteria contaminating more than one
cloth.
“If cloths aren’t clean they can wipe out the
very thing they are used for – cleanliness,” said Environmental
Health Manager for Hambleton and Richmondshire District Councils,
Philip Mepham.
“They become contaminated with bacteria and
food particles – by using single use disposable cloths the
contamination is thrown away.
“But whatever is used must be replaced
frequently and separate cloths for raw and cooked food handling
areas must be used at all times.”
The survey by the Health Protection Agency
looked at 133 cloths taken from 120 businesses – 56% of them were
found to contain unacceptable levels of bacteria including listeria
and e coli. Many businesses disinfected reusable cloths
every 10 – 24 hours, some left it for 24 hours and a few did not
know how often they were replaced.
For advice on hygiene in food businesses
contact the environmental health departments on 0845 1211 555 or
01748 829100.
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