Why do restaurants need new tools for cleaning and sanitation? Lingering fear from Covid-19, whereby people will stay away from high traffic areas, requires new solutions, including hand sanitation nearby at all times. Time has proven over and over again, relying on trained staff is ineffective, as evidenced by food safety violations and fruit fly infestations.
According to an ABC investigative report which involved testing at 10 restaurants in 3 states, the germiest items in a restaurant:
- Seats- 70% of chairs tested has bad bacteria; 17 different kinds, including e-coli.
- Rims of glasses- multiple bacteria including one that causes tuberculosis; hidden cameras caught waiters touching the rim which gives pathogens a direct route into our bodies
- Salt and pepper shakers- 50% swabbed were contaminated
- Lemon wedges- 50% swabbed were contaminated with fecal waste; Employees observed touching fruit without tongs.
- Menu’s- found bacteria that causes staph infections on one, and the germs that cause strep throat on another.
Read the full story, 10 Germiest Places in a Restaurant on ABC.
There’s another pervasive problem not covered in their investigation – dirty soda guns, frequently flagged by food safety inspectors. Like dirty glasses, cross contamination opens the door to pouring bacteria directly into drinks. It’s as simple as a bartender wiping a contaminated bar and then wiping the soda gun or even the holster it sits in. In Sea Hawk Safety tests conducted by independent parties, 100% of soda guns were contaminated.
As restaurants reopen, checklists are going to be critical, and they need to have new items on them. Manually cleaning soda guns should be eliminated. The process is archaic and involves employees touching elements that can transfer contaminants to guests. The Sea~Gun by Sea Hawk Safety automatically cleans the soda gun to better than humanly possible, mitigating cross contamination risk, while also reducing costly manual labor, and removing a task that fatigued bartenders don’t like to do at the end of their shift.
Sea Hawk Safety is committed to mitigating food safety risks and boosting profits with automated beverage dispensing innovations. Get the Sea~Gun automated soda gun cleaning system today to mitigate risk of deadly cross contamination.