National Food Safety Month: Essential Tips to Prevent Foodborne Illnesses in Your Restaurant

From our partners at the National Restaurant Association

 

Proper prevention practices can significantly reduce the risk of contamination and foodborne illnesses. Follow these essential tips to protect your staff, your customers, and your reputation from outbreaks.

Putting Personal Hygiene First

Most foodborne outbreaks at restaurants are caused by food handlers unknowingly transferring pathogens from their body onto food. Neglecting personal hygiene greatly increases the risk of transferring harmful pathogens to food.

The number one way to avoid a foodborne illness outbreak at your operation is to ensure your staff are following proper hygiene protocols. One of the most important personal hygiene practices food handlers should follow is knowing when, where and how to wash their hands.

Practicing proper hygiene in the restaurant also includes knowing when and how to use gloves, keeping hands and nails clean, wearing appropriate work attire and not showing up to work sick.

Here are more essential tips for maintaining a clean, healthy crew:

DO’S	DON’T’S
● Hang posters near handwashing sinks that clearly indicate when, where and how employees should wash their hands.	● Let employees use rags, aprons or their clothes to dry their hands.
● Regularly stock your handwashing stations with soap and paper towels.	● Use the hand washing sink for anything other than washing hands.
● Talk to staff about dirty hands and nails, unkempt hair, soiled clothes or inappropriate jewelry and provide your reasoning.	● Let employees come into work sick.
● Let staff know where they can eat, drink, smoke and chew gum or tobacco.
● Look out for employees who are coughing, sneezing, vomiting or displaying other signs of illness and remind them of your sick policy.

 

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Controlling Food Time and Temperature

Another common cause of foodborne illness in restaurants stems from unsafe bacterial growth in food. Certain types of food, known as Time/Temperature Control for Safety (TCS) foods, allow for more bacterial growth than others. When left at certain temperatures for an extended amount of time, bacteria in these foods can grow to dangerous levels.

Ensure food handlers know how to properly take food temperatures using a thermometer. Take TCS food temperatures during receiving, storing, prep, thawing, cooking, holding, cooling and reheating.

Check out these tips for keeping TCS food safe in your restaurant:

DO’S	DON’T’S
● Display accurate time and temperature charts in the kitchen.	● Thaw TCS food at room temperature.
● Make sure your thermometers are correctly calibrated and stored in a clean, safe area.	● Cool large amounts of hot food in a cooler.
● Check refrigerator and freezer temperatures regularly.	● Allow cooks to prep TCS food in large batches.
● Ensure good food quality during receiving, rejecting frozen food that has thawed, expired food, or food that has an abnormal color, texture or smell.	● Assume TCS food is safe to eat by looking at it or smelling it.
● Label stored food with use-by dates.
● Keep cold food cold and hot food hot.

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Preventing Cross-Contamination

Cross-contamination happens when foodborne pathogens are transferred from one surface or food to another and can lead to dangerous outbreaks. Cross-contamination can happen at any time, from receiving and storing food to preparing and serving it.

Aside from keeping known contaminants out of your kitchen, employees should be aware of how to properly store, prep and serve raw and ready-to-eat foods to limit the transfer of pathogens. Staff should also undergo food allergen training to prevent potentially harmful cross-contact.

Here are some tips for preventing cross-contamination:

DO’S	DON’T’S
● Maintain designated food storage areas.	● Allow stored food to touch walls or the floor.
● Educate food handlers on where and how to store food.	● Allow food handlers to prepare ready-to-eat food on surfaces that have come in contact with raw meat, seafood or poultry without being cleaned or sanitized.
● Store chemicals and other non-food items away from food.	● Let cooks use the same cutting boards, utensils or cooking oil to prepare allergen orders.
● Designate color-coded cutting boards and utensils for preparing raw and ready-to-eat foods.
● Keep unwashed produce away from raw food until cleaned.
● Educate servers on how to hold and store plates and utensils.

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Cleaning and Sanitizing in the Kitchen

It should go without saying that a dirty kitchen is a breeding ground for unsafe germs. Establishing good cleaning and sanitizing practices in the kitchen can help reduce the spread of harmful pathogens onto food.

The first step toward ensuring a safe, clean kitchen is making sure employees know when and how to clean and sanitize. Your food handler staff should know how to correctly use a dishwasher and three-compartment sink, how to clean and sanitize stationary equipment and how to properly handle garbage.

Follow these cleaning and sanitizing tips to keep your kitchen safe:

DO’S	DON’T’S
● Make sure your staff understands the difference between cleaning and sanitizing and know which surfaces to clean and sanitize.	● Keep worn or cracked equipment.
● Provide demonstrations on how to properly clean and sanitize stationary equipment like ice cream machines, meat grinders and dishwashers.	● Keep garbage in prep areas for an extended amount of time.
● Instruct staff on how to mix and test sanitizing solutions.	● Allow staff to towel dry items.
● Regularly check for signs of pests by looking for droppings, nests or damage to products.
● Follow a comprehensive cleaning program.

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Want an easy way to prevent the spread of foodborne illnesses in your operation? Download The 3-Legged Approach to Preventing Foodborne Illnesses poster and hang it where employees can easily reference it to help prevent an outbreak.