The Hidden Value of Cleaning in Food & Beverage Facilities

Food & beverage facilities have to work within the confines of strict hygiene standards, and for good reason.

Actually, for two good reasons: the risk of spreading disease through food and the need to assure customers that the food they buy has been made under sanitary conditions.

In fact, the main purpose of food safety regulations is to ensure that food is produced according to the highest quality and safety standards.

When it comes to cleaning their facilities and equipment, food & beverage companies should consider more than just these food hygiene standards, however. There are other potential benefits (some widely unknown) to implementing a good quality control system for ensuring the cleanliness of equipment and facilities.

Never underestimate the value of healthy employees

All staff who handle food should practice good personal hygiene — to ensure the safety of the food as well as their own health.

In this respect, one of the key benefits of having properly cleaned facilities is that it can significantly reduce harmful contaminants in indoor work environments. A clean and hygienic facility will greatly increase employee comfort and can reduce their chances of catching a cold or flu by 80%. This alone can cause absenteeism to drop by 46%. And that’s nothing to sneeze at.

Health problems caused by inadequate cleaning have been shown to have a clear and direct impact on a company’s bottom line

It’s certainly no secret that sick employees are very costly for an employer. The average employee takes 7.7 sick days a year. After one year, these unexpected absences can reduce a company’s productivity by 54% and can even lead to a decline in sales of 39%!

Product recalls

Product recalls and safety notices are the bane of many food & beverage companies. Not only are they exorbitantly expensive (absorbing the cost of wasted products, disinfecting the facilities, paying employees overtime, managing the crisis in the media, etc.), they also can destroy a company’s hard-earned brand image and reputation literally overnight. The presence of dangerous bacteria such as salmonella, listeria or staphylococcus aureus, or traces of insects or undeclared food allergens like eggs, milk or peanuts, are often behind such nightmarish scenarios and could have been avoided if the proper cleaning procedures had been followed and in place. If there’s one thing consumers, industry and governments can agree on, it’s food safety.

Never underestimate the value of cleaning in food & beverage facilities. It pays off!