Antimicrobial activity on surfaces can accelerate the natural rate of microbial cell death. Non-leaching antimicrobial surfaces are capable of killing microorganisms upon contact without leaching significant amounts of antimicrobial materials into the surrounding environment. Alternatively, cleaning processes and equipment that use short wavelength ultraviolet light (UV-C) effectively can reduce the bacterial load on surfaces, so long as they are used with sufficient frequency to prevent the bioload from being re-established.