Characteristics of Sanitizers

Characteristics	Steam	Chlorine	Iodophor	QUATS*	AAS**
Gram-positive bacteria	Best	Good	Good	Good	Good
Gram-negative bacteria	Best	Good	Good	Poor	Fair
Spores	Good	Good	Poor	Fair	Fair
Yeasts and molds	Best	Good	Good	Fair	Poor
Bacteriophage	Best	Good	Fair	Poor	Poor
Optimum pH	N/A	4-5	3	10	2-2.5
Penetration	Poor	Good	Poor	Good	Excellent
Corrosive	No	Yes	Slight	No	Slight
Irritation	N/A	Yes	No	No	Yes
Hard water affects	No	No	Slight	Yes/No	Slight
Shelf-life	N/A	Short	Long	Long	Long
Organic matter affects	No	Yes	Slight	Low	Slight
Stable in 140°F H2O	N/A	No	No	Yes	Yes
Leaves residue	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Flavor/odor	No	Yes	Yes	No	No
Ease of use	Poor	Excellent	Excellent	Foam	Foam
Use with detergent	No	No/yes	Yes	No/yes	No
Maximum use by FDA/USDA	None	200 ppm***	25 ppm****	200 ppm*****	200-400 ppm
Cost	High	Low	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate
Where to use	Equipment	Equipment, floors, walls	Rubber, plastic crates	Aluminum, walls, floors	Stainless steel, CIP

*Quaternary ammonium compounds.
**Acid anionic surfactants.
***Nonfood contact use on concrete floors (1000-5000 ppm), conveyor belts (300-500 ppm), fogging with 800-1000 ppm, wooden crates (1000 ppm).
****Nonfood contact use on concrete floors (500-800 ppm).
*****Nonfood contact use on cooler walls (500-800 ppm), concrete floors (500-800 ppm).

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