It is my hope that those who worked with me during my food industry career found me to be a logical, thoughtful, and rational individual when it comes to developing and implementing food safety and quality programs. However, there are certain things that I hear during discussions with food professionals that drive me crazy—and it is sometimes a very short drive! For example, I can feel myself starting to cringe when I hear someone refer to "my SSOPs" plural! Although I try not to sound incredulous, my retort is often, "Why would you have multiple SSOPs?" As the discussion progresses, it becomes clear that what they are referring to is a conglomeration of their SSOP and their general cleaning procedures, which then leads to another serious discussion as to why these documents have been combined.
In this article, I present my thoughts on how general cleaning procedures (Standard Operating Procedures, or SOPs) differ from Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures (SSOPs) and why they should remain separate. First, I will define SOPs.