kaip11•1mo ago

Overheard a USDA inspector talking about new knife sanitation rules

I was at the restaurant supply store last Tuesday grabbing new gloves and heard two inspectors talking. One said they're cracking down hard on knives that sit in sanitizer between uses instead of getting washed and dried each time. Apparently they're failing shops left and right in our district starting next month. Has anyone else heard about this or dealt with the new rules yet?

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haydenj901mo ago

My buddy runs a kitchen in Portland and he got flagged for this exact thing last week. He told me the inspector specifically cited the gap between the knife block and the sink as a problem area where moisture builds up. The rule is apparently about the sanitizer concentration dropping below 50ppm when you keep dunking wet knives in there all shift. Nobody talks about the fact that most commercial sanitizer tablets are designed for single-use dips, not prolonged soaking like some guys do. I wonder if the real push here is from the chemical companies trying to sell more tablets rather than actual food safety data. Either way, expect to see a lot of shops scrambling to buy those magnetic strip racks next month.