What Birko products and services are used in the cleaning and sanitizing of equipment used to produce items sold in grocery fresh perimeter departments?
Effective food safety starts with the companies supplying food to the supermarket perimeter, so we offer automated equipment like the Elite 360 to meat and poultry suppliers. The Elite 360 applies antimicrobial chemicals to products using a unique process that results in 360-degree coverage of the product. That means it’s more effective in fighting pathogens before products even arrive to the store, as all surfaces of the product have been treated with antimicrobials. We hope to expand that equipment offering to produce suppliers in the future.
How has your product roster in this area evolved over the years?
Beyond expanding our portfolio of antimicrobials and sanitation chemicals, Birko has focused largely on developing automated equipment. We’re interested in breaking away from traditional sanitation and intervention methods, which require large amounts of water and chemicals and can have inconsistent results in pathogen reduction. Spraying chemicals through nozzles or pumps can result in water and chemical waste, so we’re looking to help food suppliers achieve consistent results, remove the role of human error and ultimately achieve sustainability goals.
Is the proper cleaning and sanitizing of equipment more important in the age of COVID?
The cleaning and sanitizing of equipment is always important—we want to protect the food chain. Foodborne illness, whether the individual is healthy or has another illness, has a negative impact on not only that individual, but the store and the brand that sells and produces that product. And now, with more and more people continuing to contract COVID-19, the effects of foodborne illness are even more concerning. That means we have to do the absolute best we can to make sure the food chain is protected, and that starts with the front line: food processing plants.