According to the National Restaurant Association, 47 percent of the dollars spent on food in the U.S. are spent at restaurants. Unsurprisngly, about half of the 48 million cases of foodborne illness in the U.S. each year originate in restaurant establishments.

Restaurants and other food-related businesses carry a significant responsibility to have effective cleaning and sanitation food safety practices in place to combat cross-contamination of microbes such as salmonella, E. coli, listeria, and other pathogens that can cause foodborne illness outbreaks.

The mandated steps of cleaning and sanitizing food contact surfaces seem quite straightforward. However, experience demonstrates that the effectiveness of this process is entirely dependent upon several variables including the sanitizer selected, properties of the water used (temperature, hardness and pH), contact time (also known as dwell time) of the sanitizer on the surface, and the chemical interactions between the towel and the sanitizer.

A well-known challenge of the food service and healthcare industries is that cotton, viscose-based paper and nonwoven towels typically bind up to 40 percent of sanitizer solution.

CHIX Professional Foodservice Sanitizer Compatible towels from Chicopee, a subsidiary of PGI, are specifically designed to work with a sanitizer of hcoice to release effective levels of sanitizing solution to food contact surfaces.

The towels are effective with quats, chlorine, and hydgrogen peroxide solutions, representing a further advancement in the fight against foodborne illness and cross-contamination.

While laundered cotton towels, paper towels and other nonwoven towels deplete sanitizer potency, a recent study — completed in partnership with a leading national restaurant chain — yields data supporting the claim that the sanitizer compatible towels do not deplete sanitizer concentration, and additionally releases the targeted concentration onto the food contact surface better than commonly used towels.

According to the study’s findings:

— CHIX towels released 93 percent of the full quats sanitizer, while the traditional cotton towel released 50 percent of the full sanitizer strength.

— CHIX towels released 81 percent of the full chlorine sanitizer strength respectively, while the traditional linen towel released 62 percent of the full sanitizer.

To read the case study in its entirety, click here.