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Springtime for ice machines

Added: (Tue Feb 26 2019)

Pressbox (Press Release) - The time to remember to clean your ice machine is now

With holidays rapidly approaching and the media stories about contaminated ice still fresh in the mind, now is the time to take another look at your ice machine cleaning and maintenance schedule and make sure it’s fit for purpose.

While most people would consider maintaining hygiene as vitally important for the smooth running of any foodservice business, it is fairly easy to overlook the inner workings of the ice machine as part of the regular cleaning schedule.

However, the importance of keeping your ice machine clean cannot be overestimated. Putting in place a regular cleaning and maintenance schedule should keep the nasties out of your ice. Done correctly, it will not add much to your staff’s existing workload.

This schedule should be divided into three phases: daily tasks, monthly tasks and those done every six months.

Daily cleaning tasks include sanitising scoops or tools used for removing ice from the bin. These should not be stored in the bin. Cleaning the external surfaces of the ice bin with food-safe sanitiser, paying particular attention paid to areas touched while opening the storage bin. Finally, carry out a visual inspection every day to ensure no contaminants have entered the storage bin. If there is anything present that shouldn’t be, the ice should be immediately discarded, and the bin fully cleaned.

Every month you should be doing a full and deep clean of the unit according to the manufacturer’s instructions. This involves switching it off and emptying out all the ice first. This is a good time to remove and clean the air filters as well, and if your machine uses an anti-bacterial system that should also be replaced.

Finally, water filter cartridges should be replaced every six months. This will prevent limescale from building up, helping to guarantee crystal clear cubes as well as helping to prevent bacteria entering via the incoming water supply.

Alongside these cleaning routines, it is also a good idea to reiterate the training you give to staff to make sure they are fully aware of best practice recommendations for handling ice. The primary cause of contaminated ice is human contact. It can be easy to overlook the actions required to limit the chances for contaminating the ice supply during the everyday bustle of work, so making sure they are aware of what is required is vital.

For example, ice should never be handled with bare hands, always use tools, like tongs or scoops. These should be cleaned and sanitised at least once a day to keep contamination under control. While human contact is the biggest vector for bacterial transmission, the storage bins should remain closed to minimise bacteria falling into the ice from the air.

For the same reason, never use the ice bin as a method of cooling other items, for example bottles.

While cleaning procedures can be comprehensive on paper, if your staff are not trained properly and made fully aware of the risks of serving contaminated ice to customers it makes no difference.
Taking the time to review both your procedures and your staff’s training will help to prevent risks to your business’ reputation, and more importantly, your customers’ health.

Full cleaning guides can be downloaded from the Scotsman Ice website here: https://www.scotsman-ice.co.uk/downloads/ . The site also has a series of videos demonstrating exactly how to clean various ice machines.

Hubbard Systems is the UK distributor for the market-leading Scotsman range of icemakers, which is available via dealers nationwide. Hubbard Systems is part of HTG Trading Ltd. For more information and details of local stockists, freephone Hubbard Systems on 0800 616559, call 01473 350045, email sales@hubbardsystems.co.uk or visit www.scotsman-ice.co.uk

Copy ends
Springtime for ice machines – Feb-19
Press Enquiries:
Toni Turner at The Publicity Works:
01263 761000; scotsman@publicityworks.biz

David Rees, Group Marketing Manager, HTG Trading Ltd, 01473 350045

For more news about Scotsman Ice Systems and Hubbard Systems visit the press office at www.publicityworks.biz


Scotsman Ice Systems and Hubbard Systems
Scotsman is recognised as delivering the market’s most reliable, best built, quality ice machines. It offers a huge range of icemakers for the hospitality, industrial, medical, fish and retail sectors, making a comprehensive variety of ice types. They include supercube ice cubes, dice cubes, half dice cubes, superdice cubes, ice cubelets, nugget ice cubes, flake ice, superflake ice and scale ice. Whatever the application, Scotsman has a commercial ice machine to match.
Scotsman has been associated with Hubbard Systems for nearly 50 years. Hubbard Systems is known for its expertise and for the professionalism of its pre- and after-sales support. In the most recent customer satisfaction survey, Hubbard Systems scored over 90% in all question categories, including ease of contact, enquiry handling, delivery, accuracy and technical support. Hubbard Systems is a division of HTG Trading.

Submitted by:Toni Turner
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