Cross Contamination Solutions - Sani Station by Carlisle & San Jamar
From Prep to Plate - Food Safety within Reach with the Sani Station
Cross-Contamination is the ugly word hushed about behind the scenes in many foodservice establishments. It's a real problem from a health and safety stand point all the way to a food preference issue. It's also a real pain point for many foodservice operators who have good intentions of bringing all their customers, no matter their preferences, good tasting quality food rather than stomach discomfort.
Cross-Contamination can occur in any part of the foodservice process from the field where the food is grown, back of the house prep, storage & handling, cooking to garnishing & finishing a plate. Everyone needs to be careful to follow all food safety procedures recommended by the Hawaii Department of Health to prevent Cross-Contamination of allergens, Lactose, Biofilm and bacterias like E. coli, Salmonella, Listeria, and Staph Aureus. But there are some procedures that find themselves in that 'gray area' where there was never a good solution for. Such as that infamous dirty white towel left on the line to wipe tools between uses - it's not practical to wash the knife or grab a new towel after every use! That crock of standing water at the waiters station to keep the tools like ice cream scoops or rice paddles 'clean' between uses. That chef knife stuck between the lid of the refrigerated prep-table, shoved into the crack between the wall or stuck back on the knife magnet still soiled with food debris. Also cooking utensils such as tongs hanging on oven handles or in dirty crocks on the cooking line. Chefs don't often think twice about cleaning the cooking tool when switching between raw & cooked products let along between proteins and vegetables for people with food preferences or sensitivities. Also did you know that airport restaurants past the TSA entry point are required to tie their knives to the wall? How can you wash a knife you can't legally remove from the wall? Not only this, how long is the right amount of time to use a tool before the oils & food debris on the tool start to spoil? All kinds of variables such as the type of debris, saturation, time and temperature change all play a part a role in determining this. All this 'gray area' and no reasonable solution - until now!
George Barlow - inventor of the Sani Station worked closely with operator SUBWAY SANDWICHES to figure out a solution for gray-areas such as these. They too had the infamous dirty white towel on the prep line to wipe their knives between cutting sandwiches. Growing up, I didn't think twice about that rag, I thought it was 'just the way things were done' in a restaurant and just blindly trusted that it had to be clean. Now Sani Stations are a permanent fixture in all Subway stores across the country!
The Sani Station not only eliminated Cross-contamination, it also eliminates excessive tools on the cooking line. Instead of a billion different colored tongs for different food applications, you can cut it down to a few because you're cleaning & sanitizing as you go. Or in an off-site pop-up event situation where you don't have access to a 3 compartment sink, you don't have to lug around barrels of sanitizer solution to soak your tools. All you need is the Sani Station and you're good to go! The rows of brushes inside the soaking bin scrub the tool of food debris and the solution is a no-rinse food safe soap & sanitizer mix that takes care of the rest for you. Leave it in the solution for a minimum of 60 seconds and go right back into using it or set it into the drying bin ready for the next use. Get rid of those sanitizer tubs taking up valuable counter or prep space - Less tools to wash, store and buy!
Also food preferences and allergies are another pain point in many foodservice operations. For example many operators have separate tools or even stations dedicated to peanut butter applications or separate colored tools for different proteins & vegetables to ensure there is no Cross-contamination. The Sani Station sanitizer packs eliminates this worry - you can clean a peanut butter tool in the same water as a non-peanut butter tool without worry of cross contamination.
The Sani Station is available in 3 sizes - the size you choose depends on the length of your utensil. There are also different mounting brackets depending on where you want your station situated in your cooking line up.
Want to know more? Contact us PAC RIM REPS your Hawaii representative for more info or to see a demo in your kitchen!