There are some truly terrible consequences that stem from improperly maintained ice machines.
Health code violations and fines pale in comparison to the heartbreaking stories of hospital stays and loss of life that can result from contaminated ice.
Most ice machine operators will never have to deal with such serious situations, even if they poorly follow their recommended ice machine maintenance and cleaning schedules.
For some ice machine operators, ice machine sanitation can become a numbers game. How much it costs to properly maintain an ice machine versus the potential downside. How likely is it that a health code inspector will walk in when your machine is particularly dirty? How likely is it really that someone will get sick? But, while playing the odds might seem like a good bet, you never know when one of the most insidious and uncontrollable aspects of poor ice machine sanitation will catch up with you; bad publicity.
Bad publicity might not seem like so dire of a threat, but consider what happened with a 2006 middle school science fair project.
What started as a middle school science project turned into national attention for one middle schooler from South Florida. The 12-year-old read an article on bacteria in airplane water and decided to see how the ice at local restaurant stacked up against the national data. When her samples from local establishments came back with positive test results for E. coli bacteria, news outlets began to take notice. It wasn’t long before ABC News picked up the story and threw South Florida restaurants into the national limelight.
One middle school student decided to conduct what, at first, seemed an innocuous science fair project. Before long national attention was directed at restaurants in South Florida. Not any particular establishment, or even a particular town, but an entire region was put under the literal microscope.
Learn more about IceZone by viewing our latest case study: IceZone Saves Restaurant Operator Millions on Ice Machine Cleaning. Click the button to download now! We will also be attending the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Show in Orlando, FL at the Orange County Convention Center. You can find us in Booth 2128.
Hope to see you there!
This sort of publicity can be damning. The student only sampled from five restaurants, and not all five samples came back contaminated.
It didn’t matter to the public or the media that most of the restaurants they frequent probably maintain a rigorous ice machine cleaning schedule, or that no one was injured, the damage had been done.
And the worst part about this type of publicity, and the gamble some owners take is that it never needed to happen. Yes, manual cleanings are time-consuming and can be a significant financial burden, but there are other options.
IceZone, for instance, is an ideal option for companies that want to cut down on their ice machine maintenance expenses.
IceZone works by using UV oxidation to create an environment inside the ice machine that prevents the growth of contaminating slime that would otherwise spread throughout the ice machine.
IceZone is a fully automated solution that is easy to install and works around the clock to protect your equipment, employees, patients, and customers alike. IceZone is certified to be safe and proven to be effective.
BSG
BSG Scientific designs and manufactures ultraviolet light commercial and industrial applications, creating systems for sanitation, preventative maintenance, and odor control solutions.
Headquartered in Orlando, Florida, we serve clients globally, with offices in 5 countries on 3 continents.
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