Essential Food Safety Practices for Restaurants and Food Service
Running a restaurant or food service goes beyond just serving great food; it also involves upholding high quality and safety standards in both your establishment and the food you prepare. Keeping up with good food hygiene helps prevent foodborne illnesses, protects public health, and fosters positive customer relationships.
If you want to make sure your food business is up to standard when it comes to quality and safety, here are some ideas to help your establishment operate in a clean and safe food environment.
Maintaining Safe Food Storage Practices
Proper food storage is key to maintaining a safe and healthy food environment. Implementing an efficient food rotation system can help you affectively manage food distribution to ensure that you’re serving the right foods first.
There are a range of food rotation labels, such as shelf life labels, day labels, ‘use by’ labels and ‘use first’ labels, that allow food handlers to accurately track the freshness of ingredients used during food preparation. Not only do these labels record important information about food, but they also visually identify the date on which prepared food should be discarded.
This reduces the risk of food poisoning, improves inventory management, and cuts the amount of food waste from spoilage.
Clear and Accurate Food Identification
As a food business, it’s essential to cater to the health and allergy concerns of your customers. Organising food items with clear and accurate identification is essential in preventing allergy and disease related health attacks and ensures the well-being of consumers.
Allergy labels help serve as an instant visual identification of what food items are safe to eat for certain customers. This is especially ideal for situations where monitoring the allergy requirements of many individuals at once is crucial.
Dysphagia, a condition characterised by swallowing difficulties, is a common health concern that food preparers must accommodate for, especially in a healthcare environment.
Food consistency labels have been developed to cater to those with dysphagia and are perfect for monitoring the texture of your food and beverage items. Developed in accordance with the IDDSI Framework, a tiered system that identifies different levels of food and beverage consistencies, you can ensure that your food can safely accommodate those with swallowing issues.
Preventing Cross-Contamination in the Kitchen
The foundation of a hygienic food environment begins with clean hands. Washing your hands for 20 seconds before, during, and after preparing food will prevent the transfer of bacteria from one food to another.
This is especially important when working with raw ingredients such as meats and eggs. To avoid cross-contamination, always keep raw foods separate from ready-to-eat items. Use separate utensils and cutting boards for different types of food, and wash them in hot, soapy water before using again.
Placing custom printed heavy duty signage around the kitchen can serve as a useful reminder for staff to wash their hands and their equipment regularly and maintain hygiene throughout kitchen operations.
The Safe Method to Thawing Frozen Food Items
While it may be convenient to let frozen items thaw at room temperature for a few hours, this is a guaranteed way to promote bacterial growth. There are three methods to safely defrosting frozen food items:
In the refrigerator in an air-tight container to avoid any juice or residuals from touching other foods
Running or submerged under cold water in a leak- proof bag
In the microwave (if it’s a small amount of food)
Using hand-writable freezer-safe labels can help you plan ahead and identify what and when food items need to be thawed. Stay prepared and prevent the spread of foodborne illnesses by thawing your frozen food items properly and safely.
Serve up Safety with Every Plate
Upholding safe food practices isn’t just about following rules – it’s about making sure every meal you serve is not only delicious but also safe to eat. Staying vigilant with food safety practices helps prevent any nasty surprises and shows customers that you care. When people know they can count on you for fresh, safe food, they’ll keep coming back. It’s all about building trust and making sure every visit leaves your customers happy and healthy!
Avery offers a range of day labels, use by, use first, pre-printed shelf life, allergy and food consistency labels that are integral for any food safety routine. Shop our full range of Food Safety Labels (will link to Food Safety Labels landing page) and let Avery be your partner in creating a safe and hygienic food environment for your business.