Mia
After the recent problem with Covid-19 personal hygiene and safety from all kinds of viruses had become an extremely sensitive topic. The last thing that you want your customers to think or know is that your food isn’t safe to eat. Whether it is your fault or not, if your food isn’t up to par in terms of safety, it’s going to be tough to grow that business.
No matter how delicious it is, how well presented it is, or how luxurious and well-known your restaurant is, one small problem with food safety could ruin that business. Not to mention all the legal problems that you will get into because of it. Food safety management systems are a must for any food business. Here are some of the main reasons why you should invest in one.
Easier Back-End Work
Food safety threats are scattered throughout the food preparation process. Starting from the very first step of procuring the raw materials, there are challenges that need to be addressed. To keep quality consistent and to make sure safety standards are met, it is ideal if restaurants can stick to regular vendors to ensure they are getting consistent quality. Ideally, all parts of the supply chain should meet the necessary safety regulations. This will help reduce the processing requirements for the restaurant as they can move straight into using the products rather than carrying out additional processes. This will save the restaurant a lot of time and significantly reduce the costs of production.
Processing
Processing the food is a complicated task because there are many different operations that need to be looked into and all of these things are happening at different times. A good solution is to homogenize certain tasks and shift towards batch processing to make things more controllable. This can be improved even further by getting as9100 certification which specifies exactly what kind of processes a business uses and helps to standardize its operations across different locations. It also shows food authorities that they are using proper operational standards and makes it possible for them to qualify for certain licenses. These standardized processes also help improve efficiency which reduces costs and also increases food safety.
Delivery
The delivery of the food means getting in contact with additional people and that is another big source of contamination. Since people will be touching plates and cutlery with their hands, drinking from glasses, and touching tabletops and other surfaces, it is important that when the dishes and cutlery come back into the kitchen they are properly sterilized and made safe for the kitchen staff and the other customers. There are again specific processes, techniques, and even washing equipment that the restaurant can use to ensure they are meeting the required safety standard. This could include having a certain kind of washing area, using a specific kind of detergent, or having a specific kind of machine if automation of the process is a feasible option.
Defined processes and specific regulations can only be successfully achieved if the people doing this work are properly trained. In very large food manufacturing businesses there is a greater degree of automation so human resource training is less important. For smaller businesses, however, employee training is pivotal. This is why restaurants should only hire qualified and professional staff to ensure that they are going to be able to meet the specific operational requirements.
