FOOD SAFETY AND QUALITY ASSURANCE: CLEANLINESS
Diagram
Two halves of clean
Sanitation
The cleaning and sanitising of the place and the equipment: premises, water, equipment, waste and pests.
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Hygiene
The personal practice of the workers: clean hands, clean clothing, health, and habits that keep germs out of food.
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The pair
Sanitation cleans the environment and hygiene cleans the people. HACCP assumes both are already in place, and fails without them.
Figure 1: Sanitation is the cleaning of the environment and equipment; hygiene is the personal practice of the workers. Drawn in our own style from the FTN Food Microbiology notes, Unit 5, and from Marriott, Schilling and Gravani, Principles of Food Sanitation.
Introduction
Sanitation and hygiene are the two halves of cleanliness in a food plant, and both are about keeping germs out of food, but they clean different things. Sanitation is the cleaning and sanitising of the environment and the equipment: the premises, the water, the equipment, the waste and the pests. Hygiene is the personal practice of the workers: clean hands, clean clothing, health, and habits that keep germs out of food. A plant can have clean floors and dirty hands, or clean hands and dirty floors, and either one lets hazards in.
The FTN Food Microbiology notes, Unit 5, set out good hygienic practice as the foundation under HACCP, and Marriott, Schilling and Gravani, Principles of Food Sanitation, give sanitation and hygiene their own chapters. This article follows those sources, with Alli, Food Quality Assurance.
Quick comparison
Table 1: Sanitation compared with hygiene
| Aspect | Sanitation | Hygiene |
|---|---|---|
| What it cleans | The environment and the equipment: premises, water, equipment, waste and pests | The people: hands, clothing, health and habits |
| Main work | Cleaning and sanitising facilities and equipment, with cleaning compounds and sanitisers | Personal hygiene: hand washing, clean clothing, and keeping ill workers away from food |
| Rules | Good manufacturing practice builds on good hygienic practice with rules for how food is actually made | Good hygienic practice is the set of basic hygiene rules: clean premises, clean water, pest control, personal hygiene, clean equipment and proper waste handling |
| Chemicals | Cleaning compounds and sanitisers, chosen for the surface and the soil, and used at the right strength | Soap and water for hands, and no chemicals on the person beyond that |
| Equipment | Cleaning equipment, and equipment designed with smooth, rounded, openable surfaces so cleaning can reach every part | Hand washing stations, clean clothing and protective clothing |
| Pests | Pest control is part of sanitation: keeping pests out of the premises and away from food | Workers report pests and keep doors closed, but pest control itself is sanitation |
| Water | Clean water for the plant, tested and safe | Clean water for hand washing |
| Waste | Proper waste handling and disposal, so waste does not attract pests or contaminate food | Workers put waste in the right place and do not let it touch food |
| Who does it | The sanitation team and every worker who cleans a surface or a machine | Every worker, every time they touch food |
| If it fails | Dirty floors, dirty equipment and pests let hazards in at so many points that no set of critical control points can catch them all | Unwashed hands, ill handlers and dirty clothing carry germs straight into open food |
Scientific explanation
Definition
Sanitation is the cleaning and sanitising of the food environment and equipment: the premises, the water, the equipment, the waste and the pests, using cleaning compounds and sanitisers, so that the place where food is made is clean. Hygiene is the personal practice of the workers: clean hands, clean clothing, health and habits, under the rules of good hygienic practice, so that the people who make the food do not carry germs into it.
Working principle
Good hygienic practice, written GHP, is the set of basic hygiene rules for a food business: clean premises, clean water, pest control, personal hygiene, clean equipment, and proper waste handling. Good manufacturing practice, written GMP, builds on GHP with rules for how food is actually made: control of raw materials, process steps, packaging, labelling, storage, and records, so that every batch is made the same safe way. Together GHP and GMP are the foundation: without them, no advanced system can work, because the basic conditions for safe food are missing. HACCP assumes GHP and GMP are already in place: without basic hygiene, hazards enter at so many points that no set of critical control points can catch them all, so the foundation must hold before the system on top can work. That is why a plant with a good HACCP plan but dirty floors and no hand washing stations will see the plan fail.
Apparatus
The books used here name no laboratory apparatus for telling the two apart, so no apparatus list is given.
Measurement procedure
The books used here name no single standard procedure for telling the two apart. Sanitation is checked by the effectiveness of cleaning and sanitising: whether facilities and equipment are clean after cleaning, whether the chemicals were right, and whether the cleaning reached every part. Hygiene is checked by watching practice: whether hands are washed, whether clothing is clean, and whether ill workers are kept away from food. ATP bioluminescence, which measures the light given off when ATP from living cells meets a test chemical, gives a number in seconds and is used to check cleaning, as the FTN Food Safety and Security notes, Unit 7, describe.
Factors affecting readings
For sanitation, the surface decides the result: smooth, rounded, openable equipment leaves nowhere for food to hide, while sharp corners, cracks and rough surfaces trap food and water where microbes grow into biofilms that resist cleaning. The chemicals decide it too: cleaning compounds and sanitisers must be chosen for the surface and the soil, and used at the right strength. For hygiene, the person decides the result: a worker with unwashed hands, an ill handler, or dirty clothing carries germs straight into open food, whatever the floors look like. Training decides both: workers who know why they wash and clean will do it when no one is watching.
Formulas and calculations
The books used here give no formula for this comparison, so no formula or worked calculation is given.
Industrial applications
- Sanitation: cleaning and sanitising facilities, equipment and food contact surfaces, with the right chemicals.
- Sanitation: pest control, waste handling and disposal, and clean water for the plant.
- Sanitation: designing equipment with smooth, rounded, openable surfaces, so cleaning reaches every part.
- Hygiene: hand washing stations, and hand washing before touching food and after handling raw meat.
- Hygiene: clean clothing and protective clothing, and keeping ill food handlers away from food.
- Hygiene: personal hygiene as part of good hygienic practice, the foundation under HACCP and GMP.
Advantages and limitations
- Sanitation, advantage: it cleans the whole environment, so hazards have nowhere to hide, and it is checked by cleaning effectiveness and ATP testing.
- Sanitation, limitation: it needs the right chemicals at the right strength, and equipment designed so cleaning can reach every part.
- Hygiene, advantage: it is cheap and direct, and clean hands and healthy workers stop germs at the point where they would enter the food.
- Hygiene, limitation: it depends on every worker, every time, and one unwashed pair of hands can undo a clean plant.
FAQ
What is the main difference between sanitation and hygiene?
Sanitation is the cleaning and sanitising of the environment and equipment, while hygiene is the personal practice of the workers: hands, clothing, health and habits.
What is good hygienic practice?
The set of basic hygiene rules for a food business: clean premises, clean water, pest control, personal hygiene, clean equipment and proper waste handling.
Why will a HACCP plan fail in a dirty plant?
Because HACCP assumes good hygienic practice and good manufacturing practice are already in place, and without basic hygiene hazards enter at so many points that no set of critical control points can catch them all.
How is cleaning checked?
By the effectiveness of cleaning and sanitising, and by ATP bioluminescence, which gives a number in seconds after cleaning.
Is pest control sanitation or hygiene?
Sanitation: pest control is part of keeping the premises clean, though workers help by reporting pests and keeping doors closed.
References and further reading
- FTN subject: Food Microbiology, Unit 5: Sanitation, Food Safety Management and Regulations; FTN subject: Quality Control and Assurance, Unit 1: Quality Control and Assurance.
- Inteaz Alli, Food Quality Assurance: Principles and Practices, CRC Press, 2004.
- Norman G. Marriott, M. Wes Schilling and Robert B. Gravani, Principles of Food Sanitation, 6th ed., Springer (Google Books page read)
