Food safety and cleanliness are critical, but hundreds of thousands of people around the world die every year from food illnesses. Because of this, many places implement a food safety system to help them prevent the spread of illness.
But how does this type of system work? Read on for things you need to know about proper food safety!
Why Bother With a Food Safety System?
If nothing else, restaurants need to follow the law so that they don't get shut down. But even if they're not in danger of being closed, a restaurant still needs to be proactive at keeping their food safe.
An outbreak can bring a lot of negative attention to your organization very quickly. Recent surveys have shown abysmal food safety at various fast-food restaurants, and some places have been shut down because of their health code violations. A good food safety plan can help you prevent issues like this!
Besides that, spoiled food can hurt your overhead, even if it doesn't lead to an outbreak. The more food you have to throw away, the more money you're wasting.
Strategies for Mitigating Risks
The good news is that there are several steps you can take to prevent poor food safety and ensure everything is kept clean. These can help you put together a good food safety system in order to help prevent diseases and bad food.
There are plenty of issues that can spring up with food and health while working in a kitchen. But these simple food safety tips can go a long way towards improving your food quality and preventing these issues!
Get Proper Training
One of the most important things you can do is ensure you and your employees all have food safety training. Good training is key to a proper food safety system. When everyone knows the correct procedures for food safety, you're far less likely to see people making mistakes with food handling.
This can also help you with your advertising and outreach! People are a lot happier to get food somewhere if they know that the employees are all trained in food safety.
Use Preventative Strategies
It's always a good idea to try to get in front of issues using risk analysis in food safety. Take a look at your food preparation situation and try to see areas where cleanliness might be an issue.
Separating your foods to prevent cross-contamination is critical. When you plan ahead to use separate cutting boards, preparation areas, and utensils on items like raw meats, you can improve your food safety.
It's also important to clean and sanitize your surfaces and tools frequently to get ahead of disease or other issues. By the time people are getting sick, it's far too late! That's why you need to have preventative cleaning and sanitizing strategies in all of your well-used food prep areas.
Respond to Issues Quickly
When the inevitable issues do pop up, a good food safety system will include a response plan. This will allow you to take care of the issues quickly before they grow bigger.
If food goes bad, something gets unexpectedly dirty, or a section is cross-contaminated, you need to deal with it right away. Some places will let things fester and sit for a while, which always leads to further issues. The sooner you take care of things, the less serious your problems will be!
Learn More About Food Safety
Implementing a proper food safety system can help you keep your business safe and clean, leaving less on your plate to deal with. You don't want a lack of cleanliness to distract you from running your business!
And if you'd like to learn more about food safety and training, contact us! We'd be happy to help you figure out a strategy for keeping your food safe and your customers happy.