Simply Clean and Safe
By Matt Del Vecchio, Vice President
Foodservice, Avmor Group
As more and more Canadians are dining out,
food safety control is increasingly becoming a concern for both consumers and
the food industry.
Though Canada’s food supply is one of the
safest in the world, foodborne illnesses are nevertheless fairly common. Health
Canada tracks outbreaks and publishes the statistics in its annual report
“Foodborne and Waterborne Disease in Canada.”
It is estimated that for every case of foodborne
disease reported, 350 cases go unreported. The report states that there are 2.2
million cases of people made sick by contaminated food in Canada, with up to
one billion dollars being spent on medical support, lost income and associated
expenses. Considering these significant costs, food safety is worthy of
everyone’s attention, especially restaurant owners.
Does your food service establishment meet
food and health safety standards?
According to food safety inspectors, a
critical violation by a food service establishment means that there has been a
violation that may result in food becoming contaminated. Critical violations
are a benchmark for judging restaurant’s cleanliness. According to research
conducted by Dateline NBC (2004), a whopping 82 per cent of the 1000
restaurants that they examined in the United States had at least one critical
violation. They reported a 60 per cent critical violation rate for fast food
restaurants. Casual and family dining chains came out worse.
Don’t wait for a food inspector to come
knocking on your door in order to find out if your establishment meets food
safety standards. A single case of food poisoning associated with your
establishment can prove to be fatal. Recent surveys show that customers are
increasingly paying attention to clues such as the cleanliness of bathrooms as
an indication of the cleanliness of your restaurant’s kitchen. Customers are
quick to spot grimy countertops, dirty floors, bathrooms that have been mopped
in a circle (you know the type: all the corners are black with gunk), and trash
spilling out of the containers. It’s a real turn-off. There is no doubt about
it: the cleanliness of your establishment directly affects your bottom line.
By being pro-active and investing in your
establishment’s food safety, not only are your ensuring that your customers are
happy repeat customers, but you are going a long way in protecting the
reputation of your business. Owen Chong, an education consultant with Food
Safety Healthy Environment, stresses the critical role that restaurant owners
play in food safety: “Restaurant owners NEED to be proactive and educate
themselves about food safety. This encompasses learning about proper
temperature control, cross contamination and proper sanitization.”
A simple sanitation program for your
establishment
Keeping your restaurant clean is one of the
most important steps in the prevention of foodborne illnesses. When it comes to
finding the proper cleaning maintenance program for your business, look for a
system that is simple and easy to use. With the quick personnel turnovers in
the foodservice industry, as well as additional obstacles such as language
barriers and literacy, it is critical that your employees be trained quickly
and easily to properly use any cleaning system that you choose. With so many
different surfaces to disinfect in a restaurant (i.e. counters, sinks, cutting
boards, slicers, floors, tables, chairs, bathrooms, etc.) a line of cleaning
products that is illustrated with pictograms and colour-coded for different
surfaces will help your employees quickly learn and provide them with a daily
reminder of correct use. Wall charts can also be very effective. Seek a
cleaning solution provided who offers training to your employees. This added
benefit will provide you with the optimum use of the products purchased and
allow you to focus your time and resources on other aspects of your business. A
cleaning system that can be customized to fit your needs is ideal since it can
go a long way in making your life simpler.
An effective and safer sanitation program
In order to further safeguard the health
and safety of your employees, take the time to educate yourself and decide
which sanitation program is right for you. Bleach is frequently used in
cleaning and is a popular component in most cleaning product, although it has
been proven to be harmful to the environment and to people. According to Canada
Housing and Mortgage Corporation, it is suspected of causing a number of
environmental problems, such as ozone depletion, and of posing health threats
to humans and wildlife, such as cancer. Commonly used in cleaning, disinfecting
and laundering, chlorine can fade and discolour fabrics, causing additional
wear and tear on their lifespan. This entails additional expenses by requiring
you to replace new uniforms more frequently. Also, bleach poses a danger to
your employees by causing severe irritation to the eyes and skin if not rinsed
thoroughly, resulting in dermatitis and rash. It can emit fumes that severely
irritate and impair the respiratory tract, and when mixed with certain
chemicals, has the potential to create noxious gases. Why use this chemical for
cleaning and disinfecting your establishment when there are better and safer
alternatives available?
A viable alternative to using bleach and
chlorine products are Quaternary Ammonium Compounds (QUATS) sanitizers. They
are non-staining, odourless and non-corrosive to metals. As sanitizers they
exhibit a wide latitude in germicidal activity when used in hard water and are
effective over a wide pH range. QUATS leave a non-volatile residue on surfaces
to which they are applied, rendering the surfaces bacteriastatic for a given
time.(1) According to the Drugs Directorate, QUAT Sanitizers should contain a
minimum 450 ppm (parts per million) to be an effective disinfectant and a
maximum 200 ppm for an effective rinse free sanitizer.
Additional Food Health and Safety Tips:
- Proper Hand washing – Not only should surfaces be washed and
disinfected frequently, so should hands. Remember when mom always reminded
you to “wash your hands!”… she was right. Hands spread an estimated 80 per
cent of common infectious diseases. Proper hand washing, though simple, if
often neglected. Experts all agree that the single most important thing we
can to do keep from getting sick and spreading illness to others is to
wash our hands.
- Not only is hand washing essential, but HOW you was is key.
Washing your hands does not mean turning on the tap and quickly running
your fingers through cold water for a few seconds. (See Figure One)
- Separate. Don’t cross-contaminate. Cross-contamination allows
bacteria to spread from one food product to another. This is especially
dangerous for raw meat, poultry and seafood. Keep these foods and their
juices away from ready-to-eat foods. Adding to the challenge,
micro-organisms continue to adapt and evolve, often increasing their
degree of virulence.
- If possible, use one cutting
board for raw meat products and another for salads and other foods that are
ready to be eaten.
- Always wash cutting boards,
knives and other utensils with hot, soapy water after they come in contact with
raw meat, poultry and seafood. Then sanitize.
- Never place cooked food on a
plate that previously held raw meat, poultry or seafood.
- Temperature Control. Cook food to proper temperatures. Bacteria
multiply rapidly between 4.4 degrees Celsius (40 degrees Fahrenheit) and
60 degrees Celsius (140 degrees Fahrenheit). Food are properly cooked when
they are heated for a long enough time and at a high enough temperature to
kill the harmful bacteria that causes foodborne illness. Refrigerate foods
quickly because cold temperatures keep most harmful bacteria from growing
and multiplying. Public health officials recommend setting the
refrigerator at 1.1 degrees Celsius (34 degree Fahrenheit) to 3.3 degrees
Celsius (38 degrees Fahrenheit) and the freezer unit at minus 17.7 degrees
Celsius (zero degrees Fahrenheit) and occasionally checking these
temperatures with an appliance thermometer.
Sources
- Choosing the Proper Sanitizer
or Disinfectant, Nathan Schiff, Ph.D., www.schiff-consulting.com/choosing.htmlv
(1998)
- USDA-FSIS Foodborne Illness:
What Consumers Need To Know. April 2006. www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/Foodborne_Illness_What_Consumers_Needs_to_Know/index.asp
- Partnership For Food Safety
Education (2006). Foodborne Illness. A Constant Challenge. www.fightbac.org/content/view/fsebac.html
- Partnership For Food Safety
Education (2005). Fight BAC! Four Simple Steps to Food Safety. www.foodsafety.gov/~dms/fsebac.html
- Public Health Agency of Canada.
“The Importance of Handwashing For Your Health” (March 15, 2006)
