Food safety protocols are perhaps some of the most stringent safety regulations among broader business requirements. Making sure what we eat is safe has kept our country healthier than most, from very early on and kept profitable production lines going. Now Foodservice is faced with an intense new combatant in Covid-19, keeping the industry closed in many areas and in need of help everywhere.

As re-opening or loosening guidelines and precautions starts to spread, Restaurants and Bars will begin to test the cleaning and disinfecting solutions put in place. Among those concerns should be,  “What is in those cleaning products” and at the top (and what is concerning) are “quats”.  Quaternary Ammonium Compounds, basically a line list of harmful chemicals that usually end in “onium chloride” that do a great job on Covid-19, and have their own list of other possible affects they leave behind with their residue.

• Potent skin irritants and can cause rashes and dermatitis.
• Cleaning workers exposed regularly to “quats” have developed occupational asthma.
• Reproductive harm, potentially affecting fertility, and possibly leading to birth defects.
• Widespread use of quats is contributing to the global problem of antimicrobial resistance, leading to the development of “superbugs” that cannot be controlled with antibiotics.

These types of disinfectants don’t really feel like they fit the bill for our essential Foodservice Workers or  their customers. Yet this is what is produced from most of your “big brands” and made available to distributors and resellers. “Quats” tend to keep prices low and are complete with warnings and directions that according to a recent CDC survey, regarding household cleaning practices, a THIRD of responders don’t adhere to. Now we know Foodservice teams are FAR more efficient than any of us at home, but the idea that these guidelines are obviously under-communicated is alarming.

Finding the right choice may be a bit more difficult, but it will be well worth it to your family at work and the families who visit. Products utilizing citric acid, lactic acid,  hydrogen peroxide, or thymol are safer options but should still be used properly according to instructions and warning.

They have the proper, EPA N-Listed, Covid-19 killing power but just like “quats” are subject to efficacy times. Surfaces must be left WET for the stated time frame in order to actually disinfect and even sanitize. This tends to be anywhere from 2-10 minutes, depending on how powerful the ingredients are most times.

Let’s make the right choices not only for our food-contact surfaces, but the entire environment, and offer a safer home to our family and restaurant goers alike.

Want more information on disinfecting in Hospitality & Foodservice? Check out our related article “Are you using the right cleaning products in your Hotel or Resort Lobby?”

Source:

Chemical & Engineering News – Do we know enough about the safety of “quat” disinfectants?

Women’s Voice For Earth – Cleaning with Pesticides? Quit the Quats!

CDC – Knowledge and Practices Regarding Safe Household Cleaning and Disinfection for COVID-19 Prevention — United States, May 2020

UMass Lowell – Disinfectants Can Kill the Coronavirus, but Can Also Harm Health