One area of food protection and food safety that often gets overlooked is delivery. Food should always be stored properly even when being delivered. All the same protections should be in place such as holding temperature, separating raw from ready-to-eat foods, and using containers that protect the food from insects or rodents. Food is delivered in many ways. Larger organizations have commissaries that produce food and then send it out to other locations using trucks, suppliers deliver large amounts of food to many restaurants all day, and many restaurants deliver meals right to customers' doorsteps. In each of these cases, the deliverer should be taking proper steps to ensure the food is … [Read more...]
Food Safety Starts with Smart Restaurant Kitchen Design
Designing restaurant kitchens can be very complicated. There are many factors to be considered when planning where to put equipment and what materials to use. Health departments require detailed documents showing the site plan, floor plan, equipment layout and plumbing/mechanical/finish schedules even before any construction begins. These plans should be developed with food safety in mind. The information in this post can be used as a general guide to help new restaurateurs understand health regulations when designing their kitchens. Site Plan A site plan should show the facility and surrounding areas such as parking, storm drains and garbage areas. Most operators want the option to spray … [Read more...]
Restaurants: Provide Allergy Info to Protect Customers and Your Business
More and more, food allergies are becoming a big issue. As it is now, around 15 million people have a food allergy, and this number is growing. The CDC is reporting an 18 percent increase in food allergies from 1997–2007, and the prevalence of peanut allergies among children tripled in that same time period. These 8 foods account for 90 percent of all food allergies: Milk Eggs Peanuts Tree nuts: walnuts, almonds, cashews, pistachios, pecans Wheat Soy Fish Shellfish: crab, crayfish, lobster, shrimp With so many people having food allergies, it's important to properly disclose what foods have allergens. Commercially packaged products are required to disclose allergens, … [Read more...]
Food Safety Training Tug of War
All over the country, health districts and food industry representatives are debating the best way to train food service workers in critical food safety areas. Some districts have only recently required training, such as California, while others have been providing it for decades. Ensuring all food service employees have proper and effective food safety training is an extremely important factor in reducing foodborne illness and both local health departments and the food industry have a vested interest to ensure it continues to improve. In the past, many health departments had direct control over food safety training in their areas, but many of these programs haven't been updated since … [Read more...]
Stay on Top of Food Safety with Health Inspection Checklists
A health inspection can be a very frustrating experience in a restaurant. Someone you don't know is telling you what is wrong with your business. Oftentimes, things are pointed out that you had no idea were problems. If you had known it was a problem, then it would have already been addressed, but it took a health inspector to point it out. These inspections would go much easier if a process was in place to identify these problem areas. This process can be developed by doing your own health inspection. In-house inspections can be very beneficial to not only find and correct problems before the health inspector finds them, but it will also greatly improve the food safety program of the … [Read more...]
Anatomy of a Foodborne Illness Complaint, Part 3: Confirmed Cases
If you have a customer with a confirmed foodborne illness, the local health department will probably visit you. A case is confirmed when a stool sample from an infected person is cultured and the harmful bacteria is found. This process can take a few days. When there is a confirmed case, the health department is contacted and they begin an investigation to try and determine the source of the infection. Many questions are asked of the infected person, including about where they ate. If there are restaurants involved, they will look at the timeline and try and guess which ones could be the source. Some can be ruled out, and others may need further investigation. This may lead them to your … [Read more...]
Anatomy of a Foodborne Illness Complaint, Part 2: False Accusations
How do you spot a false foodborne illness complaint? Oftentimes, this can be very difficult to see. There are generally two main types of false complaints—one from someone who is really ill but didn't get sick from your restaurant and one that comes from a dishonest customer who just wants to extort money. Make sure you ask the right questions. Use the Foodborne Illness Report (also found in the Manager's Toolbox) to help you, and look for the signs. There are some common signs, and a fair amount of research may need to be done before you can make the determination that a claim is false. Common Signs of a False Foodborne Illness Complaint The signs listed here aren't true in every … [Read more...]
Dennis Keith has been working as a restaurant and food safety professional for more than 20 years.