Although many manufacturer's state that their systems are ‘single‐use only’, some authors are now recommending that enteral feed delivery systems can be re‐used, particularly in the home, in order to reduce the expense of enteral feeding.The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a range of currently recommended cleaning and disinfection procedures in removing bacteria from five commonly used enteral feeding systems. The systems used were, a collapsible, top‐fill reservoir with integral giving set, a plastic enteral nutrition bag with side port and integral giving set, and three different types of rigid plastic reservoirs with separate giving sets.The systems were filled with 1000‐ml portions of feed experimentally contaminated with either Klebsiella aerogenes or Escherichia coli and the feed perfused through the systems for 15 h; viable counts increased from 102‐‐103to 107‐‐109cfu ml‐1. The systems were then cleaned by a range of methods including rinsing and/or immersing them in sterile water, sterile water and detergent, and/or disinfection with hypochlorite solutions. When the systems were refilled with sterile feed it was found that residual bacteria in the systems multiplied to yield levels ≤109cfu ml‐1after 15 h.The results of the present study demonstrate that none of the methods tested can be recommended as being totally effective in removing bacteria