Processors are experimenting with new slicing and sanitizing innovations that rely on water — along with 3D scanning, sensors and increased automation. Slicers are vulnerable to cross-contamination from bacteria and humans. Slicing machines can harbor bacteria when nooks and crannies aren’t cleaned on a timely basis. And employees bear the lion’s share of responsibility for carefully taking apart and properly cleaning these machines, as well.
“We tend to get quite lucky that we don’t get more illnesses from slicers,” says Robert W. Powitz, Ph.D., principal consultant and technical director of Old Saybrook, Conn.-based R.W. Powitz and Associates, forensic sanitarians. “The most effective ways to clean slicers also take the most time.”