Why Is It Important to Sanitize Kitchen Tools and Equipment?

You must sanitize your tools if you own a restaurant or regularly cook at home. But why is it important to sanitize kitchen tools and equipment?

This article will discuss sanitizing and why it is important or why food safety and sanitation matter for Food Businesses. We will also discuss the benefits of sanitized kitchen tools and equipment.

Cleaning vs. Sanitizing

If you run a restaurant, food factory, or an online food business from your kitchen, you must know the value of offering safe food. 

Cooking safe food means that you must sanitize your kitchen tools and equipment. We cannot stress enough how crucial it is to sanitize your kitchen equipment regularly. 

However, many people often think that cleaning and sanitizing are the same. They’re not.

For one, cleaning removes contaminants (e.g., dust and dirt) from something (e.g., kitchen tools). On the other hand, sanitizing means killing pathogens (e.g., germs) on a clean surface. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends doing both. In particular, you need to clean something first and then sanitize it. 

Depending on where you live, the local authorities usually set protocols for food preparation. As a responsible food business owner, you must follow these protocols. 

These guidelines usually include keeping your kitchen hygienic. To comply with these guidelines, you must regularly clean and sanitize kitchen premises. 

Why Is It Important to Sanitize Kitchen Tools and Equipment?

There are many reasons why you need to sanitize kitchen tools and equipment. Here are the top five reasons why is it important to sanitize kitchen tools and equipment:

1. Sanitizing prevents pathogens from spreading to your food.

One of the main reasons you need to sanitize your tools is to prevent pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, and molds from spreading to your food. 

When you use your tools to prepare raw food, pathogens from the raw food transfer to your tools. If you do not sanitize your tools, pathogens will spread to your finished product. 

Similarly, dirty tools can transfer pathogens from one food to another. For instance, if you use baking tools and equipment to mix raw eggs and don’t sanitize them afterward, pathogens build up on your tools. As a result, the pathogens spread to the next baked treat you make. 

2. Sanitizing lets you comply with health standards.

Local authorities set health standards to ensure clean food products go to the market. Without these standards, restaurants and factories won’t be helped accountable in case their workers and customers get sick.

To ensure everyone’s health, you must follow the health standards set by the authorities. These include sanitizing your tools and keeping your kitchen as clean as possible.

In addition, local authorities conduct random inspections. If you do not closely comply with their guidelines, your business will likely close. You don’t want that to happen to your business, do you?

3. Sanitizing keeps your customers safe.

Food goes into people’s systems. Unlike clothing or skincare products, people ingest food. So, if you sell food, you must be extremely careful of your products. 

For one, you must prepare the food you sell in a clean and sanitized kitchen. Your tools must be clean and sanitized as well.

You should also make sure that your ingredients are safe. For instance, if you sell baked treats, your baking ingredients must be fresh and clean. 

Lastly, the food you prepare must be packed using clean containers. The containers must be free of pathogens that can harm your customers.

Doing these ensures that your customers stay safe and free from food poisoning. 

4. Sanitizing keeps you and your workers safe.

When you sanitize your tools, you don’t just keep your customers safe. You keep yourself safe as well. If you have workers, you keep them safe, too.

Viruses and bacteria easily spread among dirty tools and equipment. When this happens, you and your workers become exposed to the pathogens. If you or your workers have weak immune systems, they can be sick. 

Regularly cleaning and sanitizing your tools keeps you and your workers safe. After all, you might not want anyone in your team to get sick. 

5. Sanitizing helps scale your business. 

As we mentioned, cleaning and sanitizing your tools means producing safe food products. 

When you do this, your customers will trust you more. If they know that you prepare your food properly, they tend to trust your brand. Over time, this trust turns into loyalty. As a result, you get loyal customers who keep on buying your products.

Interestingly, you can also use your food preparation as a social media strategy for your business. For instance, you make ice cream cakes. You can shoot a video of how you safely prepare your products, post that video online, and let your prospects see it. 

Furthermore, sanitized tools let you maintain a great reputation. In particular, sanitized tools and equipment prevent your kitchen from reeking with unpleasant smells that may seep out from your restaurant or factory. 

As you may know, no one wants to eat at smelly restaurants. You don’t have to deal with this problem if you sanitize your tools and equipment. 

When to Sanitize Kitchen Tools and Equipment

Now that you know why is it important to sanitize kitchen tools and equipment, it’s time for you to know when to do it.

As a rule of thumb, anything involved with food preparation should be sanitary. For instance, if you are deep frying chicken, the tools and ingredients you use must be sanitary.

However, tools that come into contact with the food you prepare should be cleaned and sanitized with a proven sanitizing method.

In particular, they must be cleaned and sanitized:

• Every time you use tools, equipment, and any surface.
• After using them to prepare raw meat, fruits, vegetables, and other ingredients.
• When you start preparing another type of food.
• At least every four hours if you constantly use the tools, equipment, and any surface.

How to Sanitize Kitchen Tools in 10 Easy Steps

Now that you know why is it important to sanitize kitchen tools and equipment and when to do so, it’s time to know how to do it.

Here’s how to sanitize kitchen tools and equipment:

1. Remove loose dirt and food debris from the tools. 
2. Rinse them with water.
3. Wash the tools using a sponge and detergent. As an alternative, you can use a dishwasher.
4. Rinse the tools. 
5. Place the tools in a container. 
6. Pour hot water (75 °C)  into the container.
7. Let the tools sit in the water for at least two minutes. 
8. Treat the tools with sanitizer as instructed on the label. 
9. Place your tools on the kitchen countertop. As an alternative, you can place them on a draining rack.
10. Let the tools air dry. As an alternative, you can wipe them dry using clean cloth. 

Conclusion

Cleaning and sanitizing your tools are crucial to your food business’s success. 

Doing these prevent pathogens from spreading to your food and lets you comply with health standards. They keep you and your customer safe as well. 

So, if you operate a food business, regularly sanitizing your tools and equipment is a step you should not skip.

While you’re at it, please do not forget to educate your employees about why is it important to sanitize kitchen tools and equipment. By doing this, you maintain a safe working environment for them. You also avoid food poisoning lawsuits that can hurt your workers and business. And don’t forget to dispose empty disinfectant bottles properly.

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About HICAPS

Over the years, HICAPS has helped bakers and businesses make delicious products by offering ingredients like ChiffonAide Cake Oil, Magic Whizk Whipping Cream, Red Velvet Flavor Emulco, and Instabake Brownie Mix. 

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