Final answer:
Surfaces and equipment that appear clean are not necessarily sanitary, as sanitization requires reducing microbes to safe levels and sterilization requires destroying all forms of microbial life.
Step-by-step explanation:
False, surfaces and equipment that look thoroughly clean are not necessarily sanitary. Sanitary implies that the surface is free of microbes that could cause contamination or illness. Simply cleaning can remove visible dirt and debris, but sanitization involves using specific methods to reduce microbial presence to safe levels, and sterilization refers to the complete destruction of all forms of microbial life. For example, sanitizers or disinfectants might be needed to achieve sanitization, while methods such as moist-heat sterilization require high temperatures to ensure that equipment is free of microbes. On the contrary, dry-heat sterilization protocols can require even higher temperatures, and for longer periods of time, to achieve the same level of sterility.