Grease Bioremediation: Reducing Contamination Risks in Food Businesses

As restaurants and food services reopen, they have much more to do than polish the silverware. Regulators are advising food processing and serving businesses to reenforce and establish higher standards for the cleaning and disinfecting of equipment and surfaces. Though one kitchen culprit has designs to foil your more meticulous cleaning efforts. In greasy kitchens, as you clean, grease spreads and creates a barrier between disinfectants and microbes. 

Bioremediation throughout the grease lifecycle can eliminate grease biocontaminants from your kitchen and community. 

Vacuum Up Grease 

The very properties that make grease a good lubricator in your equipment create havoc when cleaning. The job of this high viscosity material is to separate surfaces (e.g., bearings). As grease accumulates on countertops, floors, appliances, vents, and grease traps, conventional cleaners cannot penetrate grease and kill microbes. Some microbes will even stick around to gorge on grease. 

Regularly vacuum cleaning grease traps prevent grease from being splashed and tracked throughout a kitchen. Messy grease traps on floors are especially prone to spread grease on shoe heals and cleaning equipment. Contact vacuum cleaning services to learn more. 

Use Powerful, Green Grease Cleaners 

Once the grease is vacuumed up, scrubbing down the area with a biodegradable cleaner ensures residue does not continue to act as an impenetrable barrier. Your strongest floor cleaner will not be tough enough on grease if it does not break down grease residue. 

Stubborn grease baked onto bakery ovens or meat roasters should not be overlooked. In meat processing areas or ovens, grease build-up can prevent cleaners from killing salmonella, E. coli, and other harmful bacteria. Eco-friendly cleaning agents are some of the most powerful for breaking down grease because they use natural bacteria to biodegrade fats, oils, and greases (FOG).

Recycle Your Grease 

When these grease vacuuming and cleaning measures are not taken, FOG and harmful microorganisms are washed into pipes and clog the sewage system, affecting the quality of water in your water system. 

Recycling grease avoids releasing grease into the environment. Instead, grease vacuum cleaning services collect the grease and transport it to recycling facilities. Many uses are being developed for biomass feedstock produced from grease. They include:

• biodiesel used in transportation 
• methane gas for power 
• brown oil used in power and heating
• nutrient-rich water 

By naturally biodegrading and recycling the grease in your food preparation or processing facility, you can achieve a higher standard of cleanliness. Meanwhile, you prevent non-biodegradable FOG from forming in your sewage system and compromising the water quality of your food facility