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Disinfectants are distinguished from sanitizers in several ways:
Both sanitizers and disinfectants are products regulated by
the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The EPA establishes the rules that govern these products
including their testing, claims and direction for use. A disinfectant must
completely eliminate all the organisms listed on its label. These organisms are
not limited to bacteria but could include viruses and fungi. Sanitizers need not
eliminate one hundred percent of all organisms to be effective. Nor are fungi or
viruses ever included in a sanitizing claim. For food contact surfaces, a
sanitizer must reduce the bacterial count by 99.999%.
Most disinfectants and sanitizers are intended to by used on
hard, non-porous, environmental surfaces such as walls, floors, countertops and
tables. A disinfectant can be used on a food contact surface such as a
countertop, utensils or glassware, but the surfaces need to be rinsed with
potable water after being disinfected. A food contact sanitizer needs no rinse
after sanitizing a food contact surface. A food contact sanitizer is designed to
function as the final rinse on food contact surfaces such as tables,
countertops, utensils or glassware.
At use dilution, the active ingredient concentration in a
quaternary disinfectant product can range from 400 to 1000 ppm. The active
ingredient concentration for a food contact sanitizer is limited to 150 to 400
ppm. The difference in active ingredient concentration is the result of the
different sets of tests and rules that EPA establishes for each type of claim.
Additionally, no perfumes are allowed in food contact sanitizers, but, perfumes
are often used in disinfectants.
The directions for most disinfectants typically instruct the
user to allow the disinfectant to be left on the surface for ten minutes.
Typical sanitizing directions instruct the users to leave the sanitizing
solutions on the surface anywhere from thirty to one hundred seconds twenty (2
minutes).
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