Food Safety News – November 2010
Dishwashers - Is yours safe?
The dishwasher must be the bane of the inspector’s life. Even the most spotless kitchen seems to be let down by the poor standard of the dish wash interior. Pink scum or slime hides in the most hard of reach corners and left unattended is quickly joined by black mould. The hard water in the south east of England adds to a build-up of lime scale which aggravates the problem even further.
Attention needs to be paid to the dark corners of the door fame, the top and underside of the rinse arms and the interior walls (especially at the back). Washing plates in a dirty dishwasher could lead to possible cross contamination, foreign bodies from food debris and at the very least, dirty or stained crockery. Much is made of how dishwashers and washing machines last longer if used with water softening tablets but very little is ever mentioned of how safe the dishwasher is (or isn’t).
Similar to the situation that most households have no idea what wattage their microwave is, few householders would know what temperature their dishwashers reach, even in the final rinse. Domestic dishwashers rarely reach the dizzying temperatures supposedly met by industrial models but even if they do, how often are they checked? Industrial dishwashers, which usually reach 82°C, would reduce bacteria to a safe level but kitchen managers rarely bother, or know how to check the temperature. Simple devices are available for kitchen managers and domestic goddesses alike to check their dishwasher and have the peace of mind that dishwashers are actually cleaning the dishes and not just getting them wet!
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