Dr. Jeff Kornacki of Kornacki Microbiology Solutions, Inc says, "Spiral Freezers were designed by the devil to contaminate food with listeria." While we've never seen a devil horn logo on any Spiral Freezers we've come across, the sentiment is there. They are a real pain for food manufacturing sites.
Spiral Freezers are a perfect storm for listeria growth. They are constructed to minimize the inside chamber in order to reduce cooling costs, making them hard to clean using traditional sanitation methods. There's an unhealthy amount of condensation and moisture within the freezer, which helps promote microbial growth by providing water to any organisms which find their way in.
Chlorine dioxide gas is uniquely situated to overcome the challenges of decontaminating Spiral Freezers. Chlorine dioxide is a true gas at room temperature, meaning that it fills the space its contained within evenly and completely. It also has a molecule size smaller than the smallest virus, allowing it to reach deeper into cracks and crevices than pathogens can hide. Combining this with our Decontamination Service Team's experience in overcoming complex challenges and applications allows us to decontaminate Spiral Freezers quickly and effectively. Earlier this year, our team was able to finally eradicate a listeria problem from a Spiral Freezer which had been shut down for 8 months. The facility had employed the use of a number of different sanitation strategies: Ozone, Peracetic Acid, Heat, Enzymes, and even a different chlorine dioxide gas provider without being able to fully eliminate the problem. After working with our team, the facility was able to get the Spiral Freezer listeria free and back into production.
Contact us for more information on how we approach Spiral Freezers and how we might be able to help out.
Contamination Control Blog
