![]() Ongoing supply chain and labor challenges mean that many restaurants are trying to accomplish more tasks with fewer resources, but your food safety is one area where you can’t cut corners. As you try to operate in the leanest way possible, food safety tech can help you offload processes that are necessary and also require more labor hours when done manually. Looking across your operation, are there any remaining paper-and-pen processes that could be converted to digital? Are you receiving text or email alerts about the need to complete tasks on time? Can you log photos or other evidence of compliance as needed? Talk to Team Four if you need help in assessing where and how digital processes may help enhance your food safety. Difficult as the current environment is for restaurant operators, it could also be an ideal time to press the reset button on your food safety program – and to reinforce your commitment to it as you onboard new staff. ![]() Covid-19 has made consistent food safety training both more critical and more difficult as operators have tried to adjust to evolving regulations and procedures, as well as increased employee turnover. If your training practices have suffered due to Covid-19, you’re far from alone: A recent study of quick-service operators by NSI International found that more than half of operators said they had had to cancel or delay training due to the challenges of the pandemic. The lack of on-demand training, as well as inconsistency in the quality of courses, has created the conditions for increased food safety risks, it found. If you’re still relying heavily on manual training aids and in-person coaching to onboard staff, ask us how you can better automate these tasks this year – or deliver real-time training updates remotely in case of absence. ![]() The pandemic has heightened consumer consciousness of the origins of restaurant food, as well as the safety practices used to protect it. If you’re among the growing number of operators running a ghost kitchen or similar space that keeps your back-of-house operations behind the scenes, it’s all the more important to find ways to be transparent about your food sourcing and safety practices. Your website and social media channels are the virtual windows overlooking your kitchen. Update them with lists of local suppliers, allergy information, health inspection grades, news about digital tools you adopt to monitor food safety, and photos of your safety practices in action. ![]() Your staff may be familiar with the key foods that tend to pose the greatest risk of foodborne illness, but if your menu is changing to accommodate more plant-based ingredients, your team may need to brush up on the pathogen risks of plant-based foods. This is especially true if the foods aren’t cooked prior to service and therefore provide a more fertile breeding ground for bacteria. Items like tofu; rice; cooked pasta, chickpeas, beans and lentils; herbs and spices; nuts and fresh produce all carry foodborne illness risk. Make sure your staff knows how to prepare and store these items, as well as what signs indicate that something needs to be discarded. ![]() Restaurant delivery is a tempting option on cold, dark winter nights – but less so if that order arrives lukewarm. Any hot food you send out the door and into the cold risks entering the temperature danger zone if not protected. Make sure your delivery providers are taking care to shield food from the elements in sealed, insulated bags – and are delivering within a reasonable time frame. On your end, it may also be helpful to include reheating instructions with delivery orders to help ensure your food is eaten at the proper temperature following delivery. ![]() While Covid variants continue to be front-of-mind for restaurant operators, it can be easy to forget about the other seasonal illnesses that can impact a restaurant, particularly norovirus (which, although it can strike at any time of year, is known as the “winter vomiting bug” for a reason). Norovirus causes more foodborne illnesses than all bacterial pathogens combined. You can prevent its spread in your restaurant by having a food safety plan that considers your entire facility, including restrooms, your dining room and supply areas in addition to your kitchen. Reinforce with employees the need to wash hands even more frequently than usual with soap and water, and keep stations well stocked with soap and paper towels. Conduct training with staff on cleaning and sanitizing surfaces, including the proper solutions to use, as well as the amounts, applications and schedule of use. Finally, schedule frequent restroom cleanings and give staff a refresher on what procedures must be used when cleaning up after someone has been ill in your facility. ![]() Want to improve your safety? Focus on improving your transparency. By having an operation that is open with vendors, suppliers and customers about your safety practices, you’re creating the conditions for improved safety. There are a number of actions you can take to improve your transparency: Trace (and minimize) your menu’s links in the food supply chain so you can tell a less complicated story about how you’re sourcing your menu. Be open with nutritional information and allergens on your menu – One Dine suggests offering a QR code on your menu that links to detailed information about menu items. Make your kitchen more visible – if you physically remove the barriers between staff and guest, you build trust and also reinforce your commitment to operating safely and efficiently. Finally, admit to mistakes when they happen – that could mean responding honestly and professionally to a negative review, or acknowledging steps you’re taking proactively to improve your operation’s safety based on audits or self-assessments. ![]() If you’re facing ice storms, snowstorms or other severe weather that could knock out your power this winter, you may be in the position of having to quickly take action to protect the food and beverage you’re refrigerating or freezing – and to determine what needs to be discarded. Don’t trust your nose or your taste buds in these situations, since they can’t necessarily detect when something is still fit to be consumed. You’ll be in a better place to salvage your food and beverage if you take steps in advance to store them in a way that enhances quality and freshness from the start. One tool that can help is the FoodKeeper app. Developed by the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service, with Cornell University and the Food Marketing Institute, the app (available for Apple and Android) lists optimal storage information for hundreds of items in your inventory. ![]() At a time when the supply chain is stressed, it’s all the more important for operators to be able to know and trust the sources of the food they serve – and to be alerted quickly in case of problems. To support that process, the FDA recently announced its Foodborne Outbreak Response Improvement Plan, which includes input from (and an independent review by) the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. Food Safety News reports that the plan focuses on four areas of priority: tech-enabled product traceback, developing better systems around root-cause investigations of outbreaks, strengthening the analysis and dissemination of outbreak data, and making operational improvements to better evaluate the timeliness and effectiveness of foodborne outbreak investigations. ![]() If you’re preparing food in large batches for guests in an effort to be efficient with your available resources, remind staff of food safety precautions to protect food as it cools. Steritech advises clients to cool cooked foods from 135°F to 70°F in two hours, and to 41°F within six hours. Divide dense foods into smaller portions and shallow containers to make cooling more consistent and avoid covering containers tightly until the food is fully cooled. If sending food home with guests, advise them to reheat their leftovers to at least 165°F and to freeze any food they won’t eat within three or four days. |
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