Sanitation and cleaning in meat processing plants are both required to ensure a clean environment. Cleaning is done by picking up debris from processing surfaces and discarding it, then typically using water to remove smaller debris, applying a detergent, scrubbing or washing areas, and then rinsing. Sanitizing is the next step in the process that aims to eliminate microbiological contaminants.
“While cleaning is important, it does not create a sanitary environment when completed without a sanitation step,” explains Abbey Davidson, outreach specialist at the American Association of Meat Processors, Elizabethtown, Pa. “Vice versa, surfaces cannot be sanitized effectively if cleaning is not completed. I do believe that processors create an environment where employees are trained on what to do to complete these tasks, but I firmly believe you cannot train enough, and the ‘why’ behind the sequence of these steps and the importance of each can always be reiterated.”