Home Cooler Hygiene

Increasing use of coolers in the home and sale of coolers without a service agreement are creating a market for do-it-yourself cleaning and hygiene.

New products are appearing on the market aimed at satisfying this need and already in the USA the opportunities are great, with ever increasing numbers of home coolers. There is, however, a need to educate the user about the necessity for cooler hygiene.

Often a cooler left to its own devices will rapidly accumulate bacteria, resulting in bad tastes and odours and  the danger of making someone ill. Many models enable self-sanitisation by various means, such as UV irradiation and generation of ozone, but many do not have this facility.

There is need for a simple kit that will serve the purpose without difficult procedures or use of dangerous chemicals. A simple system could comprise a disinfectant spray for tap treatment and a small bottle of disinfectant for addition to the reservoir. Food-handling gloves would be useful and a single-use wipe for the exterior.  A set of user instructions would complete the pack. 

The only item missing is a descaler, although there could be a problem with including incompatible chemicals in the same box. However, using a citric acid powder should be safe enough. 

This is an interesting development and one that will create a new type of market. Issues still under debate are pricing and marketing.