Cleaning in Food & Beverage Manufacturing: Does Liquinox Kill Bacteria?

Q. Will Liquinox kill bacteria, yeast and molds in a nutritional food and beverage manufacturing facility? Has it been approved or verified for this purpose?

A. Alconox Inc. detergents assist in the removal of pathogenic residues, but they do not kill them, and none of the detergents from Alconox Inc. have sporicidal properties. We do speak, in our literature about how, “Liquinox, in concentrated form, will not support bacterial growth,” but we say this as a testament to its 2-year shelf life. This is true for all other concentrated detergents we manufacture. The detergent concentrate will not allow for microbial growth, but is not in and of itself a disinfectant of any type.

The is true for our other biodegradable, free-rinsing, drain-safe, aqueous detergents.

Liquinox® Critical Cleaning Liquid Detergent is used in medical device manufacturing, food processing, and many other industries as a necessary step before disinfection/sterilization. For you cannot disinfect or sterilize an unclean surface. Although a proper cleaning with a Liquinox solution and rinse would not be “very healthy” for microbes, we make no such claims that the detergent will kill bacteria or otherwise eliminate them. Again, it will very effectively remove non-viable biologic based films and other pertinent residues. Therefore, Liquinox cleaning should be considered a pre-step to sterilization and validated bacteria, mold, or yeast removal.

You may also consider Tergazyme® Enzyme-Active Powdered Detergent, which is a powerful emulsifier of organic and oily residues, enhanced with protein enzymes. Check out our video!

To request an Alconox Inc. detergent for free, please complete the questionnaire at Get Sample. For more information about any one of our Alconox Inc. detergents, consult the technical bulletin for each product. Or click here to access each of our detergent’s Safety Data Sheets.

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