| |July 202091 ­ PEST CONTROLAnywhere there is food, there are un-wanted animal visitors. As a restau-rant owner, you must have a strategy in place for dealing with them. Ignor-ing the risk could be catastrophic, as the owners of Babylon Inn in Croy-don recently found out. They were charged with 55 food related offences, including a live cockroach infestation, and a severe rat problem. As a result, they had to pay heavy fines, which set them back by £93,000/-2 ­ A CULTURE OF KITCHEN SAFETYRules and regulations are all well and good. The tricky part is making sure your staff follows them. If you're not keeping a watchful eye, simple sensi-ble rules, like washing of hands before touching a food item, can be flouted. Rules do not get followed until the people who are supposed to follow them understand the reasoning be-hind them. It is, therefore, your re-sponsibility as the owner to foster a culture of safety and hygiene in your kitchen. Talk to your employees and help them understand the importance of food safety and how not sticking to the protocols can be bad for them as well as the kitchen. Oftentimes, a hygiene issue can smack you in the face from places you never suspected. Last summer, a burger joint in the U.S. was held re-sponsible for infecting 9 people with the E. Coli bacteria. The reason was that the chef cooked the burgers at a lower temperature than what was prescribed by the food administra-tion. Had he cooked them at 160o F, the bacteria would have been killed before finding their way into people's stomachs. This is why it is extremely important to be aware of all the food safety guidelines so as to avoid any unprecedented scenarios like this.3 - MAINTAINING PERSONAL HYGIENE- STAFF Besides keeping the kitchen clean, it is also important that the workers who are in direct contact with the food maintain proper personal hygiene as well. Most food-borne diseases spread because of a lack of hygiene awareness. It is extremely important to follow protocolslike frequent hand washing and proper sanitization af-ter every cleaning job. Ensuring that the food is handled well should be a part of mandatory staff training. Given below are some safety pro-tocols that must be followed strict-ly in order to maintain the desired hygiene standards. · Wash hands after going to the wash-room or smoking.· Wear a cap to cover all your hair. · Change uniforms as soon as your shift is done.· Sanitise hands every three hours while on duty.· Wear a proper gear/hand glove while handling food. · Wear a full apron to avoid any food contamination.· Rubber gloves must be washed during dishwashing.· Injuries like cuts and wounds must be protected and covered by wa-ter-resistant bandages.· Conduct a staff health exam period-ically.Maintaining proper hygiene isn't rocket science. All you need is a team of employees who are just as con-cerned about the safety of the food and reputation of the kitchen as you are. By teaching your team the im-portance of food safety and devel-oping a work culture around that, you'll create a name for yourself in the market that would be a boon for your business. Maintaining proper hygiene isn't rocket science. All you need is a team of employees who are just as concerned about the safety of the food and reputation of the kitchen as you are
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