I apologize I have not followed this entire thread. Has anyone brought up
the idea that it would be a good idea to wash plant equipment and utensils
in hot water? For this reason, aside from hand washing, I would think even
plants in the tropics with tropical warm water would want hot water
available. 21 CFR Part 110.40 says running water shall be at a "suitable
temperature." Of course, that leaves it up for interpretation.
My experience here is anecdotal, but I have been less than thrilled with the
"warm" water at some of the hotels I have stayed at on little tropical
islands near the equator. The hotels did not think it necessary to heat the
shower water, and it was too cool for my comfort!
From: Hayes, Michael (CAG-FS) [mailto:Michael.Hayes@CONAGRASEAFOOD.com]
Sent: Wednesday, February 26, 2003 12:20 PM
To: 'Peter Howgate'; The Stone's; Seafood HACCP Mailing List
Subject: RE: Hot Water and others
Just to add a comment on hand washing water temperature.
>From observation, it is true that few food places in the tropics have
>hot
water for hand washing.
Overall, it is mainly for the hand washee's comfort level that in temperate
climes hot water is supplied, so that the water temperature will be at or
just above body temperature, i.e. 37 C (98.6 F) up to about 45 C. (110 F).
I would also suggest warmer water would have a greater potential to dissolve
and suspend soil, sebum deposits on skin and soap from hand washing, as
compared to colder water.
In short, warm water has both functional and motivational reasons for use
in hand washing
Michael L. Hayes
-----Original Message-----
From: Peter Howgate [mailto:phowgate@rsc.co.uk]
Sent: Wednesday, February 26, 2003 2:18 PM
To: The Stone's; Seafood HACCP Mailing List
Subject: Re: Hot Water and others
Dear Listers
I am intrigued by Robert Stones question as to why he has to have hot water
to wash hands in the tropics. What regulation does he have in mind that
requires him to wash his hands in hot water? I have checked the EU Directive
(91/493) that lays down the hygiene regulations for fish processing factory
and it requires that: 'The wash basins must have materials for cleaning the
hands and disposable towels; the wash basin taps must not be
hand-operable.'. It does not explicitly require that water, hot or cold, is
available at the taps, but it can be inferred if you consider water is a
material required for cleaning the hands. The Codex Alimentarius
Commission's Food Hygiene Basic Texts, 2nd edn., 1999, Recommended
international code of practice. General principles of food hygiene,
recommends provision of : 'adequate means of hygienically washing and drying
hands, including wash basins and a supply of hot and cold (or suitably
temperature controlled) water;'. In the section on Personal Hygiene it
recommends: 'Personnel should always wash their hands when personal
cleanliness may affect food safety, ...', but no requirement to use hot
water to wash hands. The Codex Alimentarius Draft Code of Practice for Fish
and Fishery Products, (Report of the Twenty-fifth Session of the Codex
Committee on Fish and Fishery Products, Ålesund, Norway, 3 - 7 June 2002,
Alinorm 03/18), referring to personal hygiene requires: 'adequate means of
hygienically washing and drying hands;' and makes no recommendations about
providing, or using, hot water.
Text books on food hygiene stress the importance of washing hands, but
usually do not elaborate much on the associated provisions. The most
detailed account I have come across is in Hobbs, B.C. & Roberts, D., 1993,
Food Poisoning and Food Hygiene, Edward Arnold, London. There are 3 or 4
pages on hand washing and the only mention of the temperature of the water
is: 'The hands should be washed with plenty of soap and water, preferably
warm, and rinsed in running water.'. Shapton, D.A. & Shapton, N.F., 1994,
Principles and Practices for the Safe Processing of Food, Oxford, England:
Butterworth-Heinemann Ltd., a detailed text on food hygiene and safety,
recommends with regard to hand washing facilities that: 'There must be a
plentiful supply of hot water, soap, clean towels, ...'. Note, no provision
of cold water.
Shahul Hameed has summed up the situation exactly in my opinion. The
temperature of the wash water is immaterial as far as hygiene is concerned;
the concern is the comfort of the workers. I used to live in Aberdeen,
Scotland, and the temperature of the tap water there was less than 10ºC,
especially in winter. Great for the condensers in the laboratory, but
washing your hands in cold water tended towards the heroic. I think the
requirement for provision of a supply of hot water for hand washing in codes
of practice stems, as Shahul points out, from most C of P's, even
international ones, being originally drawn up in countries in temperate or
cold temperate zones where it would be normal to provide hot and cold water
at washing stations. C of P's tend to be copied, perhaps, but not always,
with modifications, and the requirement to provide, but not use, hot water
at hand washing stations is left in by default even when not appropriate.
Peter Howgate
----- Original Message -----
From: "The Stone's" <stone@is.com.fj>
To: "Seafood HACCP Mailing List" <seafood@ucdavis.edu>
Sent: Monday, February 24, 2003 11:09 PM
Subject: Hot Water and others
>
> Thanks for that.
> I have another question. Why do we in the tropics have to have hot
> water when washing hands . The average temp of cold water is around
> 80 F and would never go below 75f. The sanitation process with the
> sanitizer does not require hot water. Our hands will never freeze and
> the protein would not set
> nor will the fat. We cannot see any logic in HW.
>
> In other words What is the minimum temperature of HW?
> Can we put one non return valve on the hose inlet system as opposed to
> the end of the hose as an antisiphoning device. We have a 1"in
> comming into
the
> factory and this travels for about 50 feet, along this line we have
> four hoses which wash down separate rooms. The rooms are receival,
eviscerating,
> filleting and packing. If we have a 1" non-return valve at the point
> of entry into the factory would this satisfy the requirement. We
> cannot buy end of hose antisiphoning devices in Fiji.
> Do your need to have knee operated wash basins in toilets?
> Robert Stone,
> The Gourmet Food Company,
> Fiji.
>
>
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