Dirty ice can wreak more havoc than you might expect, but maintenance prevents that!
Restaurants, food trucks, and other establishments that serve food or beverages typically have an ice machine on board. If you have a food service establishment, you likely have a commercial ice maker. What do you need to know the most about maintaining it? Below, we shall discuss the health dangers of dirty ice and how you can avoid it.
The Dangers of Dirty Ice
Sickness
Ice is not cold enough to kill bacteria and viruses. Even though your water is below 32 degrees Fahrenheit, you can still find harmful bacteria like E. coli, salmonella, listeria, cholera, and more within the cubes. Any of these diseases can cause serious sickness, making dirty ice cubes a threat to the community’s health.
Bad Business Reputation
If your restaurant makes one person sick one time, that person will be much more wary about coming to your business ever again. That person would tell other people about their experience and darken their view. If the disease becomes widespread, it could make news headlines. A bad reputation is naturally bad for business.
Lawsuits
Preventing sickness is the priority, but lawsuits are yet another potential consequence of sickness caused by dirty ice cubes. These small pieces of ice could cause enough damage to make you pay compensation to an invalid party, which is time-consuming, costly, stressful, and preventable.
Clean & Maintain Your Commercial Ice Machine
You can avoid all of the health dangers of dirty ice by regularly cleaning and maintaining your commercial ice machine. At the very least, food services should perform a deep cleaning of the ice machine four times a year. However, that really is not enough. Businesses should clean their ice machines at least monthly to preserve cleanliness.
On top of that, employees should practice good hygiene, not handling ice cubes with dirty hands or when they are sick and sneezing or coughing. Do not let the ice come in contact with any unsanitized object.
How exactly do you clean a commercial ice machine? The basics are to clean the ice basin and run a cleaning solution through the ice-making cycle; you can learn more about it here, but ultimately, it is best to follow your ice machine manufacturer’s instructions.
Contact Pine Heights Commercial Kitchen Service, Inc.!
Since 1971, Pine Heights Commercial Kitchen Service, Inc., has been the leader in Commercial Kitchen Equipment Services in the greater Baltimore Metropolitan area. We specialize in Restaurant Equipment Repair Services, Commercial Refrigeration, Preventive Maintenance, in-shop repairs, and over-the-counter parts.
At Pine Heights, our motto is simple: “Quality Service for Less.” We provide the highest level of commercial maintenance for a competitive rate. We are veteran and family-owned and operated and located in Baltimore at 2900 West Patapsco Ave., Baltimore, MD 21230.
If you are ready for reliable Commercial Kitchen Equipment Services in Maryland, contact us today by phone, fax, or at our Baltimore location! Also, keep in touch with us on Facebook and Twitter!