Cooking and preparing food for your customers is a difficult job. There are so many different things that could go wrong and all of them can lead to unhappy customers.
This blog post will teach you how to be a successful restaurant owner by showing you 5 fundamental principles about food safety. These are the basics, but many restaurants don’t follow these rules.
When it comes to your business, the customer is always right and if they get sick from your food, it could mean goodbye profits. So here are some tips for a healthy business!
The importance of food safety
Food safety plays an essential role in the success of any restaurant or catering business. Food-borne illness outbreaks have cost businesses at least $5.6 billion in direct costs and $9.1 billion in indirect costs – from lost productivity, worker’s compensation, and medical expenses.
Each year there are about 10 million cases of food-borne illness in Australia, resulting in 128,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths. Make sure your employees and customers are not exposed to food that has been contaminated with bacteria such as E. coli, salmonella, or campylobacter.
Reduce cross-contamination
One of the most important things to do as a restaurant owner is to reduce cross-contamination. Cross-contamination is when harmful pathogens are transferred from one food item, surface, or person to another food item. It’s important that you clean your cooking and preparation surfaces thoroughly before and after you prepare each dish to avoid this problem.
You can’t get rid of all bacteria and microbes, but reducing cross-contamination will help prevent them from spreading across your kitchen.
Cover and store your food properly
You should cover and store your food as soon as it’s done cooking. This will prevent bacteria from forming on the food. If you have some leftovers, make sure to put them in the fridge or freezer within two hours. And don’t forget about meat! You should always cook meat until it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
Keep your hands clean
The most important thing in the kitchen is to keep your hands clean. That sounds simple enough, but many restaurants neglect this and promote the spread of germs. When you cook, wipe down your cutting board with a sanitizing solution before use as this will kill any bacteria. Always wash your hands with soap and water before preparing food or cooking, and always use a hand sanitiser when you can’t wash your hands right away.
Keep your mind open
You may have heard of the saying “you are what you eat.” But when it comes to your business, you should also apply this principle to the food you serve. This will help keep your mind open to all the possibilities that could go wrong in the kitchen.
This means keeping an eye on food temperatures, cleaning up after preparing raw meat and always washing your hands before and after preparing food. Keep these things in mind and you’ll be able to protect yourself and your customers from a serious illness.
Teach employees the importance of food safety
It’s important to teach your employees the importance of food safety. One way you can do this is by showing them the proper way to wash their hands. A study from Johns Hopkins University showed that after an employee washed his or her hands, only about 50% of bacteria was removed. Proper handwashing, on the other hand, will remove about 99% of bacteria and 99% of germs.
Teaching your employees how and when to wash their hands will keep them healthy and your business safe from illness. Another way you can teach employees about food safety is by making sure they know what causes food-borne illnesses and what they can do to prevent them.
Food handling and food safety supervisor course
If you’re not yet a food handler or a supervisor, there are courses available to teach you how food should be handled and the fundamentals of food safety. These are basic skills that will help you prevent food-borne illnesses and keep your kitchen clean.
Final word
All restaurants need to maintain food safety standards, as this will give you a competitive edge in the market and increase your customer satisfaction. The best way to maintain a sanitary workplace is by teaching your employees the importance of hand-washing, food storage, and food preparation. It’s also important to plan the kitchen layout so that it’s easy to clean.
A restaurant that maintains high-quality food safety standards will always have more customers coming back than one that doesn’t.
Contact us to learn about our food handling and food safety supervisor course.