Do you have a commercial walk-in freezer or refrigerator? If so, you must keep it as sanitary as possible to protect all the food inside. This can mean following proper storage procedures for meat, dairy, or other items you store inside of your unit. And these procedures may vary from one state to the next, so you'll need to stay on top of local laws for commercial establishments.



Aside from these regulations, however, there are many things you can do to keep your unit as clean and as sanitary as possible. If you follow these tips, you can help prevent the spread of foodborne illness and increase your chance of passing safety inspections with flying colors.

Keep the Floors Clean

While no one should store any food, even in boxes, on the floor of the freezer, you should still keep this area as clean as possible. Dirt and grime on the floor could accidentally transfer to food items or onto the freezer or refrigerator shelves.

Thoroughly clean your floors on a regular basis, and allow them to dry fully before using the unit again. This will prevent slips and falls while creating an all-around clean and attractive environment in which to store food items.

Enforce a No-Propping Policy

Often, commercial business owners get into bad habits. One such habit is leaving or propping the door of their refrigeration unit or walk-in freezer open.

This might be done to air out smells, to make for easy entry and exits, or for various other reasons, but it's always a bad idea. Allowing outside air into the unit can cause food and drinks to spoil.

Never allow the door to be left open to help keep things sanitary and to ensure everyone stays healthy. This might make loading and unloading more of a hassle, but the safety precautions will benefit your food items and all the people who consume them.

Clean the Door Gaskets

Even if you never leave the refrigerator or freezer door open, that's not going to help if your door gaskets are dirty and cannot do their job.

As such, wipe the gaskets down thoroughly on a regular basis using soap and water. This will keep them clean and capable and will also prevent mold, mildew, and other problems that can cause the gaskets to stop working and let warm air into your unit.

Sort Food Regularly

Even food that is properly stored in a high-quality refrigeration or freezer unit will not last forever. Thus, on a regular basis, sort through your current stock. You can choose one day a week or every two weeks to perform the sorting process.

Go through each item, and throw away anything that is past its expiration date or looks questionable. Move items that are close to their expiration date, but not past it, near the front so that they get used more quickly, which will avoid both food waste and keep things safe at the same time.

Avoid Power Outage Loss

Finally, know that loss of power is a serious concern for commercial food establishments. If this happens to you, be prepared with a backup generator that turns on automatically and will continue to run your unit. This will avoid wasted food and money.

If you do not have a generator and suffer a power outage, avoid opening the unit's door. However, if the unit is without power several hours, you may need to throw the food away to ensure safety.

Sanitary conditions can be easy to maintain. But simple mistakes could have a very negative effect. Thus, get help with all your sanitation and general walk-in freezer and refrigeration needs by relying on the professionals at A M Refrigeration.