Bike Blender Food Safety Recommendations

Bike blenders involve pedaling a bike in order to blend fruits and vegetables together to make a blended beverage or "smoothie." Niagara Region Public Health would like to provide a brief overview on the food safety recommendations for bike blender food vendors.

Water supply

All water must come from a potable (safe for drinking) source and must be available on site. Ingredients such as fruits and vegetables are to be washed prior to being blended or packaged.

Food source

Non-hazardous food item (such as fruits and vegetables), we recommend that any prepared or cut items are kept refrigerated at a temperature of 4°C (40°F) or less.

Hazardous food item (any food item that can support the growth of pathogenic bacteria, such as milk or dairy products) must be kept cold in mechanical refrigeration units at 4°C (40°F) or less.

Handwashing basin

Food vendors must ensure they wash their hands regularly when handling food. To facilitate this, a handwashing basin with liquid soap in a dispensing unit, paper towels and potable water must be set-up close to the food preparation area. A coffee urn or camping jug with a spigot can be used as a temporary handwashing basin. An empty bucket is to be located underneath the basin to catch grey water.

Utensil wash

A temporary utensil wash set-up must be present on site in order to wash the blenders/utensils when necessary. If dairy products are used, then more frequent utensil wash will be required.

A temporary wash station is comprised of three large plastic containers, big enough to fit your utensil, will be filled with potable water will be used to wash, rinse and final submerge the utensils in sanitizer for 45 seconds. The sanitizer is a mix of water and sanitizer to a concentration of 100 ppm chlorine (bleach) or 200 ppm Quats. This concentration with bleach can be made using one half tsp bleach to one litre of water.