Explore the role personal hygiene plays with food safety, and how a clean kitchen significantly helps protect the health of restaurant guests.

Welcome to week two of National Food Safety Month! Last week we got NFSM 2023 started by discussing how to properly control food time and temperature for safety. This week we will look at the role personal hygiene plays in food safety and share proper practices to ensure your staff isn’t putting the health of your guests at risk by neglecting their cleanliness. Join us as we crack the code on proper personal hygiene in kitchens and help you protect your guests from foodborne illnesses by maintaining a clean and tidy staff.

Practicing Proper Personal Cleanliness

While guests appreciate employees who keep themselves looking clean and presentable, it also plays a significant role in the safety of their food. There are various factors that combine to create proper personal cleanliness, all of which deserve equal attention.

Coming into Work Clean

One of the primary places for pathogens to be found is the skin and hair. There is a far greater risk of transferring pathogens onto food and equipment if a food handler does follow a personal hygiene program and comes into work unclean. Showering or bathing before work is the only way this can be effectively and reliably accomplished and should be considered a requirement for all food handlers.

Practicing good personal hygiene includes maintaining clean hands and nails. Make sure your staff’s fingernails are trimmed, filed, and free from nail polish or false nails. It’s also important for food handlers to keep their hands clean throughout their shift by knowing when, where, and how to wash hands and wear gloves.

Work Attire

Not only does dirty work attire leave a poor impression on guests, but it also puts their health at greater risk. Dirty, unwashed clothing has an increased risk of carrying pathogens that can be transferred onto food and cause foodborne illnesses. What makes clean work attire so important is that dirty clothing doesn’t even have to come into direct contact with the food, as the pathogens can easily be transferred from the clothing to the hands, and then onto food.
The most effective way to ensure your staff is always arriving at work with properly cleaned attire is by establishing a dress code that includes standards for the cleanliness of work attire. Examples of guidelines you will find on these dress codes include:

• Wear clean clothing daily.
• Change soiled uniforms, including aprons, as necessary.
• Recommend changing into work clothes at work.
• Store personal belongings such as street clothing, backpacks, electronic devices, and keys in designed areas that do not interact with food.
• Keep dirty clothing such as aprons, chef coats, and uniforms in an area that is away from food and prep areas.
• Wear a clean hat or hair covering when prepping food, working in prep areas, or working in areas used to clean utensils or equipment. Wear a beard covering when necessary.
• Remove rings, bracelets, and other jewelry that could contaminate or fall into food.

The Importance of Personal Hygiene

Transferring pathogens from body to food is the leading cause of foodborne-illness outbreaks at restaurant and foodservice operations. Neglecting personal hygiene significantly increases the chances of transferring harmful pathogens onto food, while prioritizing effective personal cleanliness is one of the best ways to protect the health of your guests.

Cracking the Code on Food Safety

Join us next week when we continue National Food Safety Month by taking a look at health inspections and health code violations to ensure your establishment remains safe and compliant. Also, make sure to check out last week’s coverage on temperature and food safety which includes an eBook, temperature table, and blog.

Join us as we discuss the role temperature plays when cooking food, and why it is so important when it comes to keeping your food safe and guests healthy.

Welcome to National Food Safety Month! Each week this month we will be discussing a different element of food safety, sharing valuable strategies along the way and cracking the code on important food safety principles.

This week we are examining the effects of time and temperature on food, sharing safe temperatures to cook different types of food, and explaining how to build an effective food temperature policy that your staff can stick to. Understanding food safety temperatures is critical for protecting your guests from foodborne illnesses and earning their trust. All operators and food handlers are responsible for understanding the importance of the temperature danger zone, which foods are most likely to become unsafe, and how to properly check and record food times and temperatures.

The Effects of Time and Temperature on Food

When food is held at unsafe temperatures for extended periods of time, bacteria can multiply. Any type of food can become contaminated, but bacteria grow more rapidly on certain types of food. The temperature range between 41- and 135-degrees Fahrenheit is referred to as the temperature danger zone – the range in which bacteria growth occurs most rapidly in food. More specifically, bacteria multiply the fastest between 70- and 125-degrees Fahrenheit.

The longer food sits in the danger zone, the higher the risk that bacteria will grow. The process of consistently monitoring the time your food spends in the temperature danger zone is known as time and temperature control for safety.

Foods that Need Time and Temperature Control for Safety

The foods that are at the highest risk of rapid bacteria growth are called time and temperature control for safety foods, or TCS foods. The most common TCS foods are:

• Milk and dairy products
• Shell eggs
• Poultry, beef, pork and lamb
• Fish, shellfish, and crustaceans
• Baked potatoes
• Heat-treated plant food such as cooked rice, beans and vegetables
• Tofu and other soy protein
• Synthetic ingredients such as textured soy protein in meat alternatives
• Sliced melons, cut tomatoes, cut leafy greens
• Sprouts and sprout seeds
• Untreated garlic-and-oil mixtures

Learn more about TCS foods, including specific time and temperature controls and how to safely cook, cool, reheat, hot-hold, and store TCS foods, in our eBook: Cracking the Code on Food Time and Temperature.

How to Measure the Temperature of Food

rom the moment food arrives at your establishment, right up until the time it is served, temperature should be consistently monitored using correctly calibrated thermometers. Food temperature logs should be kept and filled out by kitchen staff regularly. Here are some guidelines to follow when using thermometers to monitor food temperatures:

• Always wash, rinse, sanitize, and air-dry your thermometer before every use.
• Ensure your thermometer is calibrated to read temperatures correctly.
• There are different kinds of thermometers for different tasks – use the correct thermometer for the job you are doing.
• Check temperature by sticking the thermometer into the thickest section of the food.
• Wait until the thermometer reading remains steady before recording a temperature.
• Take a second reading in a different section of the food.
• Wash, rinse, sanitize, and air-dry thermometer immediately after use. Store in a clean case.

How To Build a Food Cooking Policy

A strong food cooking policy helps protect the health and safety of your guests, while ensuring your staff keeps and consistent and reliable temperature monitoring procedure. All food handlers and managers should be educated on the food establishment’s cooking policy and be held accountable to follow it diligently. Your policy document can also be prominently displayed in the kitchen. A strong food cooking policy consists of:

• Purpose – Briefly explain what this policy is setting out to accomplish.
• Scope – Explain which members of your staff this policy applies to.
• Procedure – Thoroughly lay out procedures for staff to safely prepare and cook food, with specific temperatures listed for TCS food.
• Monitoring – List the procedures for properly using a thermometer to regularly check and record food temperatures.
• Corrective Action – Explain the correct actions to take when food does not reach minimum internal temperature or stays in the temperature danger zone for too long.
• Record Keeping – List all the requirements for staff to keep records of food temperatures.

Check back next week for another essential NFSM 2023 topic that will help keep your food safe and your guests healthy—personal hygiene. Make sure you check out foodsafetyfocus.com throughout the month, as we will be posting various checklists, eBooks, posters, and other NFSM 2023 printable content you won’t want to miss.

Running a business with 50+ locations comes with its own set of unique challenges. Between creating a consistently positive customer experience, managing orders across locations, and keeping margins intact, it can be incredibly difficult to manage your business portfolio while ensuring each key area is being addressed properly. Fintech has multiple enterprise solutions that automate invoice payments and management, streamline order processing across locations, and protect margins.

1. Automate All Your Invoice Payments and Line-Item Data Integration

Fintech has always been associated with beverage alcohol invoice payments. With over 43 million invoices processed annually, the Fintech brand is synonymous with alcohol invoices being paid on time, every time, and in compliance with the invoice terms.

Now, Fintech is more than just alcohol payments. Our AP Automation solution helps you save time, reduce costs, and improve efficiency, accuracy, and compliance across your entire non-alc inventory. You could be dealing with hundreds of vendors sending you invoices for each location, and we understand the importance of managing those vendor relationships with timely and accurate payments.

With AP Automation, simply upload invoices from your computer or mobile device for scanning and digital conversion. Once those invoices are verified and approved, you can schedule your payment and receive line-item invoice data directly into your back-office system through our EDI integration capability.

Fintech’s AP Automation integrates with many different back-office systems, including PDI, C-Store Pro, R365, Quickbooks, Sculpture, Crunchtime, BevSpot, and more. With this feature, you can sit back and watch your invoice data automatically render in your back-office system without the risk of human error or duplicate entry. If you prefer another way, you can also choose to receive a daily file you can then upload into your back-office or accounting system.

Through AP Automation, you can eliminate manual tasks such as duplicate data entry and invoice matching. You can also enjoy faster reconciliation with increased accuracy, better invoice tracking, and real-time status updates. There is no need to waste time dealing with the tediousness of manually inputting line-item details and managing invoice payments for all of your vendors.

2. Protect Your Margins With Purchase Data Insights

Alcohol margins can change quickly with the rapid pace of product cost fluctuations. This leaves you with little time to adjust consumer shelf pricing in a timely manner. It can also delay receiving distributor credits on time and limit your ability to address pricing discrepancies with your distributor.

Fintech’s Margin Protection was built to address these issues by giving you purchase data insights that allow you to make informed decisions faster. Margin Protection compares your POS scan data to your purchase data down to the specific product SKU by location and distributor. This helps identify anomalies between these data sets and alerts you so you can take action to protect your alcohol margins.

On average, Fintech finds a 4% discrepancy in expected alcohol margins. That type of disparity can lead to margin erosion that affects your P&L statements. Take control of your alcohol margins with Margin Protection.

3. Optimize Product Ordering and Monitoring for Your Entire Footprint

Product orders can get complicated between all your distributors. Fintech’s OrderSource® is an order processing system that helps you seamlessly communicate all your beverage alcohol purchase orders (POs) to distributors electronically. The distributor will then convert the PO into an invoice and ensure a valid PO number is used. Gone are the days of dealing with endless phone calls, emails, or faxes. With OrderSource, all your POs are consolidated into one transmission type to streamline the process.

You can use the PO Discrepancy Report in the portal to view, resolve, or update purchase orders as needed.

OrderSource also connects with AP Automation and PaymentSource®, Fintech’s dedicated beverage alcohol invoice payment solution, to ensure the correct PO number is issued with your on-time payment.

Create Operational Efficiencies With Fintech’s Enterprise Solutions

Equipping Fintech’s automated enterprise solutions is the best way to optimize your invoice management. Fintech works hand-in-hand with your existing systems, so there is no downtime in getting set up and you can start to see immediate ROI. Operational automation is vital to ensuring success with multiple locations, and Fintech delivers tailored solutions built for your business, whether you run multiple restaurants, bars, grocery stores, drug stores, or convenience stores. If you would like to learn more about these enterprise solutions and how they can help your business, check out our page here or contact a Fintech expert.

Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association Buyers Guide

FRLA is proud to again partner with Overland, KS-based Strategic Value Media, a leading nationwide provider of print and digital media solutions to the national, state, and local trade and membership associations, to produce the 2023 edition of the FRLA Buyers Guide, the premier resource of relevant products and services for hospitality industry professionals. This will be the 8th year that the Guide will be produced.

As a Member of FRLA, a representative from Strategic Value Media may contact you by email or phone to inquire if you want to enhance your listing in the Buyers Guide. Please know this is a legitimate call and that SVM is partnering with FRLA to provide our members this resource for advertising your products and services.

Like the 2022 version, the 2023 edition of the guide will feature updated and expanded company and product listings, in addition to other valuable information relating to the restaurant and lodging industry. The Buyers Guide provides users with an efficient way to browse for goods and services and offers restaurant, hotel, and casino suppliers exceptional visibility by showcasing their products and services to a targeted, industry-specific buyer group.

The Buyers’ Guide is accessible through the FRLA website here and will be updated soon with new advertisements and information.  We encourage you to take advantage of this exceptional opportunity to highlight your products and services in the Buyers’ Guide. To learn more about advertising your products or services in the Buyers’ Guide, please email [email protected].

You already know Fintech for its contributions to optimizing the three-tier system through automated alcohol invoice payments. With Fintech, invoice payments are made on time, every time, and businesses also enjoy seamless line-item data integration into their back-office system. Now, we are excited to bring those time-saving capabilities to ALL of your invoices.

Our Accounts Payable (AP) Automation feature was designed to help you save time, reduce costs, improve efficiency and accuracy, and ensure compliance. Now you can pay all your invoices in one convenient place. Simply upload invoices from your computer or mobile device for scanning and digital conversion. From there, you can schedule automated payments and have one less thing to worry about in your day-to-day management.

Let’s go over five of the benefits of AP Automation and how they apply to your business.

1) Improve Your Financial Planning and Make Informed Decisions

AP Automation grants full, real-time visibility into your accounts payable. Financial planning becomes simpler when you can track all your invoice payment activity in one place. No need to sift through endless paperwork looking for a specific invoice. With built-in AP Automation, you can easily navigate your invoices and make informed decisions using data-driven reporting about your AP activity.

2) Eliminate Spending Hours on Tedious Tasks

The invoice cycle process can take up a lot of valuable time that could be better spent elsewhere. For example, managers may need to stop what they are doing and cut a check for each invoice that comes into their business. From there, they need to take time out of their busy schedule to manually input line-item data into their back-office system.

AP Automation handles this data integration for you without you having to lift a finger. It eliminates tasks like duplicate data entry and invoice matching. It also speeds up the invoice cycle by having fewer human touches for faster processing. Speed up your conversion rate from pending to paid through AP automation.

3) Optimize Your Data Flow with Seamless Integration

Our AP Automation is equipped to work with 73 out-of-the-box integrations. Manual processing is a thing of the past with this automation. You can also access fresh insights from data-rich reporting. These reports highlight purchasing trends and can potentially alert you to pricing discrepancies across your inventory.

4) Simplify Reconciliation with Speed

Getting buried under invoices and spreadsheets is draining. Ditch the spreadsheet fatigue with AP Automation and instead enjoy faster reconciliation with increased accuracy, easier invoice tracking, and real-time status updates. There is no need to waste time scouring your invoice pile just to confirm one line item when a discrepancy arises. Digitizing all your invoices makes for easier tracking and reconciliation. Keep your margins intact with the right tool in place.

5) Pay All Your Invoices Securely

Your financial information is kept safe with AP Automation. Electronic payments are made securely and your account is password-protected. Don’t risk jeopardizing your business with lost invoices containing sensitive financial information. With AP Automation, you can house all your invoices in one safe, convenient location.

Standardize and Streamline Payments with AP Automation

If you are using Fintech for your alcohol invoice management, you already know the time and cost-saving benefits it brings. Why wouldn’t you want those same benefits with all your other non-alcohol products? If you receive an invoice for it, you can scan and upload it for AP automation. Optimize your business management and use those time-savings on something more important.

You can learn more about our AP Automation here.

Written By: Matthew Bruner

Welcome to Fresh From Florida.  We want FRLA members to share with their guests the amazing assortment of fruit, vegetables, seafood, meat and other products, grown right here in Florida.  With 47,500 farms and ranches spread over 9.7 million acres, Florida has a reputation of producing a wide variety of fresh and tasty food. From plentiful fruit groves to vegetable crops, seafood and cattle, these farms, abundant waters and ranches provide Florida with bountiful opportunity to eat good and do good.

And that’s exactly what Fresh From Florida is all about: supporting local Florida farmers, helping to create jobs in our communities and of course, making sure you can share with your guests all the fresh flavors Florida has to offer. 

Fresh From Florida promotes Florida’s agricultural products through consumer marketing campaigns, partnerships with more than 100 grocers domestically and internationally and is an established presence at industry trade shows. 

We conduct annual brand awareness surveys to measure consumer recognition and to understand what drives consumers to purchase products that carry the Fresh From Florida logo.  Not only is taste important when considering whether to purchase produce or protein for your restaurant, but information such as the results of our surveys and consumer logo recognition may encourage you to give your guests what they want and consider purchasing Fresh From Florida commodities for your restaurant.  

Key Takeaways 2022* Fresh From Florida (FFF) Brand Awareness Surveys of Interest to FRLA Members
*Survey published in April 2023

• 88% of consumers surveyed recognize the FFF logo
• 66% are willing to pay more for Florida-grown products
• 79% of respondents said purchasing locally-grown fresh produce is important
• 69% of respondents said they always look for locally-grown products
• Top 4 reasons for buying Florida-grown produce
• Fresher
• Support Florida
• Support farmers
• Support local economy

At the heart of the marketing program is the sunny Fresh From Florida logo highlighting reliable Florida-grown commodities.  We leverage the logo to generate brand awareness with the goal of encouraging consumer purchases and spotlighting the importance of buying local and supporting Florida farmers. A comprehensive and year-round multi-media campaign targets key demographics to let consumers know what’s in season, how to use product in recipes, why Florida-grown commodities are the best and how to find them.  

Fresh From Florida would like to develop a partnership with Florida’s restaurants by increasing the demand for our Florida-grown commodities through B2B (restaurant to farmer) relationships and through farmer to foodservice distributor channels.  In addition, Fresh From Florida wants to extend the power of our multi-media marketing campaign to Florida’s restaurants.

Look for upcoming emails and information about Fresh From Florida as we build this partnership to offer the best of Florida flavors to your guests and at the same time support Florida farmers.  Choose fresh and remember, food tastes better when it is grown closer to home.

For more information, please contact:
Palmer Linscott
Fresh From Florida
Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services
Division of Marketing & Development
[email protected]
850-617-7343