Sanitizing is defined as:

• A. Removing all bacteria from a surface.
• B. Killing all pathogens on a surface.
• C. Reducing pathogens on a surface to safe levels.
• D. Sterilizing equipment.

Answer: (C)

Sanitation aims to lower the number of microorganisms on a surface to a level that is considered safe by public health standards. It’s about reducing pathogens to safe levels rather than removing every microbe. This is different from disinfection, which is stronger and seeks to kill most or all pathogens on nonporous surfaces, and from sterilization, which destroys all forms of microbial life and is used for equipment that must be completely sterile. By this definition, the option describing reducing pathogens on a surface to safe levels matches what sanitation is meant to do. The other ideas describe aims that are beyond or different from sanitation—killing all pathogens or removing every bacterium, or sterilizing equipment.