Click here to download a PDF version.
The Objective
Understand the importance of properly cleaning, sanitizing and maintaining your ice cream equipment. Learn to develop a simple and effective process for cleaning and sanitizing that exceeds federal health agency standards, keeps equipment running, and ensures a delicious product for repeat customers.
The Challenge
Safety First
Running an ice cream business can be a daunting, complicated endeavor. Amongst the myriad of tasks and responsibilities, cleaning and sanitizing is a topic that is at the forefront of every operators mind. This is for good reason, as food-related outbreaks can have a detrimental effect on the community and your business.
From 2009-2015, health departments reported 5,760 foodborne illness outbreaks, the majority of which occurred in retail food establishments.1 Almost half of reported foodborne illness outbreaks in the United States occur in restaurant settings.2 A good portion of these outbreaks can be traced back to ice cream and other types of frozen desserts, stemming from improper cleaning and sanitizing.
Following your defined health and safety regulations will go a long way toward avoiding dangerous outbreaks, as well as the fines and closures related to them.
How Customers Respond
Your customers will notice if your location is implicated in an outbreak. In response to personally experiencing gastrointestinal illness that they attributed to a food service facility, 90% of survey participants reported that they avoided the implicated facility for a time following the incident; almost one-half decided to never return to the facility they believed had made them ill. In response to a secondhand report of gastrointestinal illness, 86% of respondents reported they would avoid the implicated facility for a time, and 22% said they would never return to the facility.3
Be assured, your customers WILL notice. 59.2% of people read online reviews before choosing a restaurant.4 Review sites like Yelp have even started incorporating health inspection scores into restaurant profiles, giving customers instant health information about your business.
Customers will also take notice when you’re not keeping your location clean. A 2016 survey found that 66% of people will not return to a restaurant with bad food hygiene. We can compare that with only 16% of respondents who said they wouldn’t return if they experienced slow service.5 It’s a staggering contrast that brings into focus the importance of cleaning and sanitizing in the food industry.
Additionally, customers are willing to spend twice as much at a restaurant that meets their cleanliness standards than one that doesn’t.6
Equipment Cleaning & Maintenance
As you may have guessed, keeping your ice cream machine cleaned and sanitized is an essential part of avoiding the aforementioned catastrophes. Food safety should always be your number one priority, and equipment that isn’t properly cleaned and sanitized can develop milkstone and harbor dangerous bacteria.
Milkstone is a porous deposit that harbors microbial contaminants, and is possibly the greatest culprit in ice cream machine maintenance. Milkstone usually accumulates slowly on unheated surfaces because of ineffective cleaning and/or use of hard water. A solution that cleans, sanitizes and removes milkstone is the best defense against health incidents, including dangerous listeria outbreaks.
Aside from that, it’s a smart financial decision to keep your machine in good shape. The equipment used to make ice cream is expensive to repair, and even more expensive to replace. Keeping it cleaned and sanitized with a trusted solution will extend the life of your machine, and keep it running when you need it most. Remember, equipment downtime is lost revenue!
The Negative Effects of Machine Downtime
Costly Repairs
Wasted Inventories
Lost Customers
Lost Revenue
Additional Wages
Be a Tastemaker
The taste of your ice cream is what makes your business unique. An inconsistent product can confuse or alienate your customers, causing them to think twice before coming back.
For example: A famous US beverage manufacturer decided to tweak the formula of their product. After a poll, they found that only 13% of consumers liked the taste of the new product. The product was removed from stores after a mere 79 days on the market, and they reverted to the original formula.7
The cleanliness of your ice cream machine can have a massive impact on your product quality. Thorough cleaning and sanitizing removes harmful residues and built-up milkstone from previous batches that can affect flavors, textures, colors, and the overall appearance of your ice cream.
All that work designing, mixing and testing new ice creams would be for nothing if it was made in a dirty machine. Cleaning and sanitizing your frozen dessert equipment with a trusted solution is essential to producing delicious, consistent products.
The Importance of Defined Procedures
You likely already have a process for cleaning, sanitizing and disinfecting your location. When it comes to cleaning and sanitizing your restaurant, there are some points to keep in mind that can keep your process quick, effective and as simple as possible.
1: Clear Process & Procedures
To avoid confusion, it’s critical for your employees to understand the reasons and procedures for cleaning and sanitizing. For example, many restaurants will clean OR sanitize, without realizing the difference. You cannot properly sanitize a surface that isn’t clean, you need to clean first to sanitize. While the cleaning removes harmful residues, sanitizing will kill the bacteria.
2: Keep it simple.
Keeping your cleaning and sanitizing process easy and straightforward will drastically reduce your chances of downtime and other issues. Your manufacturer partners can help you customize procedures based on your equipment type.
Ever wonder why the McDonald’s ice cream machines are always broken? The truth is that most of the time they aren’t broken, they’re just being cleaned. And that cleaning process has been criticized for it’s complicated procedures and time-consuming nature.8
3: Consolidate Resources
Consider solutions that can be used on multiple machines or surfaces. This can help minimize mistakes and cut down on the cleaning products you regularly purchase, saving you time and money.
The Answer
Stera-Sheen Green Label works to both clean and sanitize frozen dessert equipment, removing milkstone and other soils. The unique formula breaks down the soils, residues and milkstone that can harbor harmful bacteria. Regular use of Green Label will improve the lifespan of your machine, keep customers safe and ensure a consistent, delicious product.
All-In-One Solution
Eliminate the need for 3 separate products. Stera-Sheen Green Label is a sanitizer, cleaner and milkstone remover all in one.
Countless Applications
Stera-Sheen Green Label isn’t just for ice cream equipment. You can use it on a variety of machines and surfaces, helping you streamline procedures and save money on labor costs.
Better Together
Need more help? These solutions are designed to work in tandem with Green Label to address some common maintenance needs.
Deliming Treatment is essential for resetting a machine with particularly heavy milkstone and scale buildup due to improper maintenance. It’s also great for ice machines!
Stera-Sheen Food-Safe Machine Lube extends the life of your bearings, slides and seals. The NSF-listed formula is tacky, won’t dry out, gum up, separate or bleed.
Your Partner and Solution Provider
While our goal is to provide safe, effective cleaners and sanitizers to our customers, we also place great importance on being your most trusted partner. That means we can build custom machine procedures and solutions for your needs, including tailored rollout kits and full program support.