There’s this “5-second rule” circulating around about dropped food on floors. Basically, it says that if you pick up a dropped food within 5 seconds, then it’s still perfectly safe to eat. Of course, the television show Mythbusters has completely debunked this idea. Food that’s touched the floor is instantly packed with bacteria – no matter how long it stayed there. In fact, according to the CDC, around 48 million Americans per year get sick of foodborne diseases. Around 128,000 of those are hospitalized while roughly 3,000 die every year. However, not all floors are created equal. Some floors actually help minimize the presence of bacteria on the surface – which makes it great for restaurants, medical buildings, and manufacturing companies. In this article, you will learn how MMA flooring helps in food safety.
Methyl Methacrylate (MMA) Flooring
MMA flooring is one of the most effective floorings today to help minimize bacteria in food processing industries. How MMA manages to do this is thanks to its non-porous surface. This means that there is absolutely ZERO pockets on the floor surface, preventing bacteria from entering into these little pockets.
This makes cleaning the MMA flooring surface more effective compared with other porous floors. There’s no need to use extensively complicated cleaning products since a single swipe already picks up all the bacteria on the surface.
But what about tile flooring? Isn’t tile non-porous too? The problem with tile is that it uses grout. So even if the tiles themselves are easy to clean, the grout pockets are 100% porous and therefore can harbor more bacteria. Even worse, cleaning the grout can be incredibly difficult, even with industrial-type cleaners.
Benefits of MMA Flooring in Food Safety
Beyond the lack of bacteria buildup, MMA flooring also comes with added benefits – all of which contribute to a cleaner floor for the food industry.
1: Prevents bad smell from covering a room.
A common problem with porous flooring materials is that water and bacteria seep into the surface. This essentially leaves microscopic puddles of stagnant water in the building – causing the entire room to smell bad.
2: No washdown after heavy equipment passing.
This happens when the floor area gets heavy traffic from forklifts or other heavy machinery. The weight of the machinery squeezes the water out, causing all that bacteria to become airborne. This is a problem that you’ll never have to worry about with MMA flooring since there are no pores to take in the bacteria in the first place.
3: MMA is heat resistant for up to 150 degrees Fahrenheit.
This makes it easy to clean them using hot water as an extra precaution against bacteria. Of course, some flooring types are also cleaned with hot water. However, these types have low heat resistance, which means that there’s a chance of it breaking down during the process. Repeated over time, the flooring breaks down, develops cracks, and harbors more bacteria.
4: Broad installation temperature.
MMA flooring can be installed in temperatures ranging from 0 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit. This makes it viable to install even during extreme temperatures with a curing time that still offers quick results. For food operation purposes, this means that the company can quickly get back to profit-making ventures.
5: Wide industry application.
This flooring type is slowly gaining popularity thanks to its diversity. Its usual applications include supermarkets, food and beverage manufacturers, hospitality, entertainment, and even as pool decks. Today, however, we’re seeing more and more MMA flooring in pharmaceutical fields, animal care, industrial, and healthcare.
Of course, these are just some of the advantages associated with MMA flooring. As Methyl Methacrylate becomes a staple in every industry, updates and improvements are set for this material.
Installing MMA Flooring
MMA Flooring is only as good as the people installing it. Extreme Epoxy Coatings sources and installs MMA flooring following industry-standard guidelines. When looking for company sources, it’s best to go over providers and seek out previous works for comparison. Figuring out the extent of the company’s service and turnaround time can go a long way in helping you arrive at a decision.
It’s never too late to have floors changed or upgraded to materials that meet the overall goal of the product being created. Food industries can focus on the really important aspects of production while still meeting industry guidelines for cleanliness.
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