Quat Binding – Why this Can Have a Disastrous Impact on Your Sanitation Program.
In June, I had the opportunity to represent FoodHandler and speak on food safety behavior for customers of Martin Bros. Distributing in Waterloo, Iowa. One of the questions that was asked caught me a little off guard. The question was about quat binding. It caught me off guard not because it was a bad question, but only because it was not something I had previously been asked nor had not yet been exposed to the phenomenon. However, I soon learned that in certain jurisdictions, it is resulting in changes to how sanitizing cloths are to be stored in sanitizing buckets (or not) in the foodservice industry. When I returned home from the trip, I had to dig into it to learn about what quat binding is and how it might impact foodservice operations.
I am sure no one reading this will dispute the importance of maintaining proper sanitation and how it is critical to ensure the safety and well-being of our guests and our employees. A common sanitizer used in many foodservice operations are quaternary ammonium compounds (quats). Quat binding occurs when the active ingredient, quaternary ammonium chloride, binds to and is ultimately absorbed into the cloth used to clean a surface. This occurs because quats are positively charged ions and cotton and other natural textiles that we commonly use in foodservice operations are negatively charged. If you think back to your high school science class, you might remember that positive attracts negative – think of a magnet, turned the right way, two magnets are attracted to each other, turn one around and they seemly repel each other.
Quat binding occurs when the active ingredient, quaternary ammonium chloride, binds to and is ultimately absorbed into the cloth used to clean a surface.
When quats bind to surfaces, their availability as antimicrobial agents decreases, making them less effective in killing pathogens. This can result in inadequate sanitation and increases the risk of foodborne illnesses. One study that explored quat binding in the healthcare setting found that allowing a cotton cloth to remain in a quat solution can reduce the concentration by almost half. Other data has noted that this binding starts almost immediately and can reduce the efficacy of the sanitizing solution by half within as little as 5 minutes.
The risks associated with quat binding cannot be overlooked. Understanding these risks and implementing proper mitigation measures are essential to safeguard food safety and protect consumers from potential health hazards. Regular monitoring of quat concentrations is crucial to ensure that the disinfectant levels remain within the recommended range. Supervisors and managers should also revisit standard operating procedures and determine what would be the best way to store the sanitizer cloths in between uses. The practice of storing the cloth in the solution, which has been standard practice for many operations, may warrant review with your team and your health inspector.
Late in June, we released the second quarter SafeBites webinar, entitled 2022 Year in Review: What We Can Learn From Foodborne Outbreaks. Check it out to learn about the major outbreaks from 2022 and what you can learn from them to protect your business! Risk Nothing.
Evaluating Food Safety
One of the suggestions I made in the last blog was to assess the food safety culture in your organization by observing the food handling techniques of workers. Let’s explore that some more. You can do an overall assessment or you can hone in on specific areas of the operation, such as production or cleaning practices. Remember, when the environmental health inspector visits your operation, he/she just gets a snapshot of what is going on in your operation on that particular day at that specific time. You are there nearly every day, so you have a much better understanding on what really happens in your operation.
September is National Food Safety Month: The Future of Food Safety
Each September we recognize the importance of food safety every day in our operations by celebrating National Food Safety Month. This year’s theme, The Future of Food Safety, emphasizes the changing environment in which foodservice operates. Each week of September has a unique focus:
September is Food Safety Education Month: The Culture of Food Safety
Developing a culture of food safety is important for any foodservice operation. You may be wondering--just what is a culture of food safety? Let’s start talking about it by first defining what is meant by culture. When you look culture up in the dictionary, you will see terms such as shared knowledge, beliefs, values, attitudes, and meanings; a way of life; patterns of behavior; learned behavior of a group of people; and transmitted from generation to generation. I think these descriptors provide good insight into the meaning of a culture of food safety. You can also think about where you grew up, and a vision of culture comes. For example, I grew up in rural Oklahoma, graduating in the 1970’s with a class of 24 students. My culture instilled in me an appreciation for rural life, hard work, and independence. As I grow older, I realize I haven’t changed very much from my early years, even though I have completed a PhD, lived a lot of places, and traveled throughout the world!
Produce Safety: Special Considerations
In our last blog, I talked about general produce safety. Today, I want to talk about some special products—melons, tomatoes, leafy greens, and sprouts. These are all foods that have a history of bacterial contamination leading to foodborne illness. I also want to discuss salad bars because they have some special risks.
