Distinguish between cleaning and sanitizing.

• A. Cleaning removes soil and debris; sanitizing reduces microbial counts on surfaces to safe levels
• B. Cleaning reduces microbial counts; sanitizing removes soil
• C. Cleaning and sanitizing are the same
• D. Sanitizing removes soil and debris; cleaning reduces microbial counts

Answer: (C)

Cleaning removes soil and debris from surfaces using detergent and water, focusing on making things visually and physically clean. It doesn’t aim to kill microbes; its job is to lift and rinse away dirt so surfaces are ready for the next step. Sanitizing, by contrast, involves applying a chemical sanitizer to a cleaned surface to reduce the number of microorganisms to levels that are considered safe by health standards. Sanitizing doesn’t guarantee all microbes are gone, but it lowers them to an acceptable level to minimize risk.

Because organic matter and soils can protect microbes and hinder sanitizer action, cleaning should come first. After cleaning, you apply the sanitizer according to its label—proper concentration, contact time, and compatibility with the surface—to achieve the intended reduction in microbial load.