Germs are everywhere. Did you know, on average, adults can touch as many as 30 objects in a single minute, including germ-harboring, high-touch surfaces?1 In fact, germs that can make your students and staff sick can survive pretty much anywhere and live from hours to even months depending on the germ and where it’s residing! This is partly why outbreaks – like COVID-19, cold, flu, and gastrointestinal illness2 – are common on college and university campuses. The residential style of shared dining facilities and high student-to-student contact make campuses breeding grounds for infectious outbreaks.
Collegiate dining service programs are at the core of a campus’ culture but, unfortunately, are also one of the most likely places where germs can spread. Collegiate Foodservice Directors work hard to ensure their dining facilities are places where students want to congregate and share meals. They may know that cleanliness and infection prevention are top-of-mind with diners. But with guest experience more important than ever, having a clean facility will help to instill confidence in students. In fact, a recent study of dining areas at university food courts demonstrated that the visual cleanliness of surfaces was an important indicator of food safety and that consumers perceived surfaces were likely sources of microbial contamination.3
As students (and staff) return to campus this fall, it’s important to have a cleaning and disinfection plan in place, to start the year off strong and help to prevent outbreaks. But how confident are you that you know all the places where germs may be lurking in your dining facility?
Study Finds the Top 5 Germiest Surfaces in Campus Dining Facilities
We recently conducted a study in a campus dining facility in a large university in the Northeast. During a typical weekday meal service, we found a whopping 71.7% of surfaces were contaminated with germs that could cause illness! 4 This included areas in the kitchen (back of house) as well as places and spaces where students congregated, loaded up their plates and ate their meals. Some places were obvious – like food preparation areas, sink handles, and dining tables – but some were rather surprising. Here are the Top 5 “germiest” surfaces sampled in the campus dining facility: 4
- Rolling cart used for food transportation: 208 million bacteria
- Food preparation surface: 119 million bacteria
- Sink handles: 93 million bacteria
- Salad bar surface: 45 million bacteria
- Touch screen: 34 million bacteria
Although they didn’t make the Top 5, here are a few more surfaces with “hidden germs”:
- Handles – such as those on produce coolers, warming ovens, and ice machines
- Diner “self-service” stations – like the condiment station, coffee dispensing station, yogurt/fruit bar, bakery case, cold beverage dispensers, and tray return area
In fact, all of the above surfaces had more germs per square inch than a toilet seat, with the top 5 having more than 10x the number of germs found in a toilet bowl! 5, 6
Do’s and Don’ts to Killing Germs in Your Facility
Although some of these germy surfaces may be a shock, luckily, there are simple steps on your part to help to prevent these germs from spreading and causing outbreaks. Here is a list of “Do’s” and “Don’ts” to make sure you are seeking and destroying the germs in your facility – not just the ones that may be easier to spot:
- Do: Clean surfaces first (especially if they are heavily soiled). Food or grease buildup may make it harder for the surface sanitizer to act where it needs to. To save time and money, look for products that offer 1-step cleaning and sanitization or disinfection. Another tip – avoid using a soiled rag that will spread dirt and germs.
- Do: Sanitize surfaces using an EPA-approved sanitizer or disinfectant. Just because you can't see the germs doesn't mean they aren’t there. Some bacteria can survive on surfaces for long periods, making it necessary to disinfect surfaces properly and frequently. Choosing an EPA-listed sanitizer or disinfectant will give you confidence that you are killing key germs.
- Do: Read the label and follow instructions on the surface sanitizer or disinfectant. Follow the contact time (amount of time a surface needs to remain wet for germicidal activity to occur). This typically ranges between 30 seconds and 10 minutes for certain germs. Also, ensure your product’s compatibility with the type of surface being sanitized or disinfected (such as stainless steel, glass, plastic, or electronic devices).
- Do: Get to know your facility and make a cleaning and sanitizing/disinfecting plan. Walk around the facility – or observe diners and staff – to identify high-touch surfaces in the back-of-house area and the dining/front-of-house area, starting at the entrance to the facility. Look around for surfaces that are in contact with raw ingredients/foods or those that visibly look “dirty.” Make a list of surfaces that are very high touch – or get heavily soiled – and require cleaning and sanitization/disinfection multiple times per day versus those that can be cleaned and sanitized/disinfected daily or even weekly. With all the tasks that need doing every day, this takes the guesswork out – making knowing what to clean and when easy.
- Don't: Just clean what you can see with your eyes. Seek out the hard-to-reach spaces where dirt and germs can thrive. Make sure you clean all the nooks and crannies of your kitchen and dining area regularly, including closets/walk-in coolers, storage areas, and counter- or table-top edges and undersides.
- Don’t: Forget outdoor dining spaces. Outdoor areas generally require routine cleaning and do not require high levels of disinfection. The targeted use of disinfectants should be performed on outdoor hard surfaces and objects that are frequently touched by many people, including dining tables, chairs, and garbage receptacles.
- Don’t: Compromise indoor air quality with harsh chemicals. High-quality, lower toxicity, EPA-approved surface hygiene solutions are available, so there is no need to compromise germ-kill for diner and staff well-being. Higher toxicity-rated disinfectants frequently have "Caution" statements like "causes eye irritation" or instruct to "wash hands thoroughly after use." Higher- toxicity products may also require the use of gloves during use. Lower toxicity-rated disinfectants can typically be identified by the ABSENCE of these “Caution” statements.
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