soil

English translation: dirt, residue, contamination

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:soil
Selected answer:dirt, residue, contamination
Entered by: Jussi Rosti

16:25 Mar 2, 2014
English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Tech/Engineering - Food & Drink / Food sanitation
English term or phrase: soil
A food production machine talks about ”soil” in many places related to cleaning and sanitation:

”Most food soils are acid soils (fats, proteins, carbohydrates). Alkaline soils include mineral salts and water hardness. Some soils are complex soils composed of a combination of soil types. The type of soil dictates the type of cleaning chemical. In general, acid cleaners are used for alkaline soils and alkaline cleaners are used for acid soils.”

The only clear web reference I found using this word in this specific meaning is
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080909204552.ht...
”Food Soil Stuck To Surfaces Can Hold Bacteria In Food Processing Factories”

My dictionaries do not have any clear definition of ”soil” in this specific sense.

I would appreciate a synonymic expression with some explanation if this term is familiar to you!
Jussi Rosti
Finland
Local time: 19:31
dirt, residue, contamination
Explanation:
A general synonym might be 'dirt', at least in everyday parlance; in this particular context, 'residue' would be a more appropriate term — though please note it is only a relatively distant synonym for the source term, not applicable in all instances.
'contamination' possibly better conveys the idea that the 'soil' is something unwanted, undesirable.
Selected response from:

Tony M
France
Local time: 18:31
Grading comment
Thanks for all!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
4 +10dirt, residue, contamination
Tony M
4 +2soiling or staining
JaneD
3 -2particle
acetran
3 -2medium
dandamesh


  

Answers


3 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
soiling or staining


Explanation:
This is a funny use of the word "soils" - I'd have used "soiling" myself.

JaneD
Sweden
Local time: 18:31
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Tony M: It's not really "funny", Jane — here it is being used to mean 'that which soils', rather than 'the fact or action of making dirty', which is rather what you terms suggest.
9 mins
  -> I see what you're saying, but I was meaning it to be read as a noun, rather than a verb. Sorry, I should have made that clear!

agree  Terry Richards
23 mins
  -> Thanks Terry

agree  Liz Dexter (was Broomfield)
44 mins
  -> Thanks Liz
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11 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +10
dirt, residue, contamination


Explanation:
A general synonym might be 'dirt', at least in everyday parlance; in this particular context, 'residue' would be a more appropriate term — though please note it is only a relatively distant synonym for the source term, not applicable in all instances.
'contamination' possibly better conveys the idea that the 'soil' is something unwanted, undesirable.

Tony M
France
Local time: 18:31
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 24
Grading comment
Thanks for all!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Terry Richards
15 mins
  -> Thanks, Terry!

agree  Liz Dexter (was Broomfield)
35 mins
  -> Thanks, Liz!

agree  Charles Davis: I think the right word here is "residues". Food soils are bits of food left on the equipment and soiling or contaminating it, because they are unhygienic.
1 hr
  -> Thanks, Charles! Very good points!

agree  Veronika McLaren
1 hr
  -> Thanks, Veronika!

agree  writeaway: with residue. imo contamination is touching on over-translation.
1 hr
  -> Thanks, W/A! Yes, just thinking of surrounding synonyms, to help give Asker a feel for it; but if we say something is 'soiled', it means it is 'contaminated' with something unwanted, so not so far off as all that, really.

agree  Jean-Claude Gouin
2 hrs
  -> Merci, J-C ! :-)

agree  Lara Barnett
5 hrs
  -> Thanks, Lara!

agree  Phong Le
7 hrs
  -> Thanks, Phong Le!

agree  Luiza Modesto
1 day 1 hr
  -> Thanks, Luiza!

agree  Natalia Volkova
2 days 6 hrs
  -> Thanks, Natalia!
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7 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): -2
particle


Explanation:
I think that soil means "particle" here.



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Note added at 22 mins (2014-03-02 16:48:05 GMT)
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I found another meaning of soil in the dictionary. To feed (confined cattle, horses, etc.) freshly cut green fodder for roughage.

acetran
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in HindiHindi, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Tony M: That would be confusing and ambiguous; 'particles' might be WANTED food particles, but the specific point of 'soil' is that they are UNwanted.
6 mins

disagree  Lara Barnett: This word is too general for the specific meaning.
5 hrs
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26 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): -2
medium


Explanation:
Soil - Tutorvista.com
www.tutorvista.com › Biology
Soil is the medium for plant growth, it provides anchorage to plants. Soil provides nutrients, both major ...

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Note added at 32 mins (2014-03-02 16:57:57 GMT)
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better film, like biofilm

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Note added at 42 mins (2014-03-02 17:07:30 GMT)
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cleaning is the removal of unwanted material (commonly called soils)
[PDF]Foods of Plant Origin Cleaning and Sanitation Guidebook
www.omafra.gov.on.ca/.../food/.../cs-gui...
and processing equipment, water quality and pest control, also affect ... Why Clean and Sanitize? 6. What's the Difference? 6. Biofilm. 7. Cleaner Selection. 8. Soils. 8. Surfaces. 8.

dandamesh
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in ItalianItalian

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Terry Richards: Not in this context
1 min
  -> a culture medium for micro-organisms

disagree  Tony M: As Terry says, a 'medium' (in this sense) is something you use because you specifically want to grow something (culture medium) / But that's not what the word means here.
1 hr
  -> soils are relevant in food industry as (unwanted) culture medium http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/20153071/
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