hi! I'm a friend of a new cheesemaker and help out every now and again (get paid in cheese!). I have a couple concerns that I feel funny asking them about (don't want to insult and cut off my cheese supply! :-\) so thought I would ask here.
one is about their "foot bath" outside their cave. it always seems dirty from the bottom of the shoes/boots being dipped in it all the time. I'm not sure what they use in it (I never smell bleach or anything). does the disinfectant last a long time no matter what?
thx!
No, it does not. Bleach should be changed every 1-2 days if it's at ~200 ppm, and if they're using quat (ammonia), less frequently, but depends on concentration. I prefer quat to bleach for foot baths.
What you mentioned is in my top 10 of oft overlooked areas of contamination. It can be a huge infection vector in a creamery. Suggest you mention that you saw this article somewhere that had best practices for sanitation or some other such and the article recommended XYZ. Or some other gentle way to broach the subject.
Also, the point of foot baths isn't to dip dirty shoes in it. You can't sanitize dirty surfaces. They must be clean.
Usually you slip into a pair of high rubber boots which await you at the door ,thos you dip into solution, once you exit you leave the boots at the door.
thanks. I remember visiting a local cheesemaker and they had me slip on a pair of big boots (I'm only 5' tall) and another time I went there they had little "bootie" type things. Whereas this friend just has me dip the bottom of my shoes, boots (in the winter - dirt, mud) into the pan. :-\
I'll try to bring it up in a nice way :)