Dry Ice Blasting for Food & Beverage Processors
Dry ice blasting is one of the cleanest equipment-cleaning methods available in food production. It’s used in CFIA-inspected and HACCP-controlled plants — including on food contact surfaces, validated through your facility’s own swab and sanitation protocol. No water, no chemical residue, no secondary media in your food zone. There’s no water, no chemicals, no sand, and no residue — only the contaminant itself, ready to sweep up. In most cases, production lines come off and go back on the same day.
What we clean in food and beverage facilities
- Packaging lines and conveyors — Belts, rollers, drives, frames; SKU and product changeover deep-cleans
- Baking and curing ovens — Carbonized residue on internal surfaces, racks, and conveyor belts
- Mixers, fillers, hoppers, and chutes — Hardened build-up from chocolate, sauce, dairy, batter, dough
- Bottling and canning lines — Filler heads, capping equipment, conveyor frames
- Heat exchangers and chillers — External surfaces and fin cleaning
- Drains, drip pans, and floor seams — Areas where water-based cleaning creates a worse problem
- Cold rooms and freezer evaporator coils — Frost, biofilm, and accumulated organic load
- Grain handling and feed milling — Dust, residue, conveyor systems
Why dry ice over water-based or chemical cleaning
Less downtime. No drying time. No tag-out for water exposure. Little to no disassembly — most equipment is cleaned in place. In many cases, lines come off and go back on the same day after client inspection and sign-off.
No certification headaches. No chemical residues to verify. No water-trapping in equipment crevices. No allergen cross-contamination concerns from shared cleaning solutions.
Cleaner result. Dry ice gets into corners, threads, and welds where water and brushes can’t. Pre-audit deep cleans pass on the first walk-through more often than not.
How we work with food plants
For one-off jobs (pre-audit, post-incident, recall response), we mobilize within 5–7 business days, full PPE, full HACCP awareness. For recurring contracts (monthly, quarterly, annual), we set fixed dates, fixed pricing, and a predictable schedule that fits your production calendar.
Pricing for food and beverage jobs
- Half-day cleans — single line or single piece of equipment
- Full-day cleans — full production area or a complete line
- Multi-day deep cleans (pre-audit, post-shutdown) — quoted per project, deposit terms available
- Recurring contracts (monthly, quarterly) — discount applied; ask for the rate card
Get a quote for your food plant
Call 226-627-4878 to discuss your project.
Request a quote
Related reading and service areas
How a typical food plant cleaning project runs
Most food and beverage cleans are scheduled into a planned shutdown — a weekend window, a holiday changeover, or a sanitation block. ODIB sends a certificate of insurance, JSA, and operator credentials in advance. On site, we work with your sanitation lead through equipment access, containment, swab planning, and validation requirements. Most production lines are back in service the same shift after your quality team has signed off on the surfaces.
Pricing
Food plant work is typically quoted day-rate because contamination level varies dramatically by process — a packaging line is different work from a baking oven or a frozen dough hopper. Two-person crew with full equipment in Southwestern Ontario runs $2,400–$3,200/day plus dry-ice consumption. For repeat work on a defined scope (quarterly conveyor cleans, annual oven cleans) we can move to a fixed-price contract. See our cost guide for typical ranges.
FAQ
Is dry ice blasting CFIA-approved?
CFIA doesn’t approve specific cleaning methods — acceptance happens at the facility level. Dry ice blasting is widely used in CFIA-inspected and FDA/USDA-regulated plants as a no-chemical, no-water cleaning method, validated through your own sanitation program. The dry ice sublimates to gas on impact, so no blast media is left in the food zone — dislodged debris is contained and removed. Your quality lead validates the surface with the same swab protocol they use for any other cleaning method.
Can you clean while production is running on adjacent lines?
Often yes. With proper containment we can clean one line while adjacent equipment continues. We coordinate with your sanitation team to confirm air handling, debris management, and any food-zone separations needed for the work.
Will it damage labels, sensors, or surface coatings?
Not when it’s set up correctly. We mask anything sensitive — labels, sensor lenses, specialty coatings — and tune the nozzle aggression to the substrate. Stainless steel, conveyor belts, and standard food-grade coatings tolerate the blast without damage. Anything specialty (Teflon, PTFE, sensor lenses) gets masked first.
How is this different from chemical washdown?
Chemical washdown introduces residue and downtime. Dry ice is dry, leaves no residue, and skips the rinse-and-dry cycle entirely. For most lines, that turns an 8-hour shutdown into a 3-4 hour job, with no swab interference from cleaning chemistries.