What is food safety?
Food safety is teamwork, and it should be carried out with strong commitment at every level of operation. Food safety activities start at purchases and end in the wash area.
What are the food safety activities?
These are the activities of food safety in the hotel industry:
1. Purchasing
- Quality ingredients should be procured from the most reliable sources.
- Perishable ingredients should be fresh at the time of purchase.
- Meat, fish, and dairy products should be free from foul smells and signs of spoilage.
- Fruits and vegetables should be free from bruises and blemishes.
- Canned foods should be verified for their manufacturing date, batch number, and expiration date.
- Bulged or dented cans of products should not be bought.
2. Receiving
All the points mentioned in the purchasing section should be verified at the receiving point. Cod food should be at an appropriate temperature.
3. Storing
- All the dry goods must be stored properly in closed containers or bins at a minimum height of 18″.
- Perishable foods must be stored in a refrigerator or freezer.
- Meat, poultry, fish, and dairy products should be stored separately.
- Meat, fish, cheese, paneer, etc. should be wrapped in cling paper and stored.
- Periodical pest control measures should be undertaken without contaminating the stock with chemicals.
4. Issues
- All the ingredients to be issued to the kitchen must be kept in the trays separately.
- Issue the cold food last.
- Check the expiration date and for any damage before issuing the canned products.
5. Preparation
- All the ingredients must be washed thoroughly before preparation.
- Separate work tables and areas should be used for preparing vegetables, fish, meat, and poultry.
- Cleaning and storing shellfish need extra attention as they can be spoiled quickly.
- Cutting boards should be washed thoroughly after preparing a batch of ingredients.
- Hands should be washed frequently with detergent during work.
- All prepared ingredients should be stored in separate containers and kept covered. If not for immediate use, it should be stored in the refrigerator.
- All the waste should be deposited in the covered disposable bin and discarded frequently.
6. Cooking
- Use clean vessels for cooking.
- Cook the food for a considerable length of time.
- Always refrigerate leftovers within one hour. Serve them cold or thoroughly reheated.
- Reheating cooked food should be done rapidly at 74 degrees Celsius.
- Never use foods from bulging, leaking, or rusting cans.
- Keep the cooked food covered.
- Wipe the spill immediately.
- Hold the food in the bain-marie before service.
- All salads should be wrapped with a cling sheet of paper.
7. Holding
Store the hot food in a bain-marie and the cold food in cold cabinets as required.
8. Service
- All the foodservice equipment should be thoroughly cleaned before use.
- Clean service equipment must be used for handling the food.
- Food must be transferred onto the plate with a serving spoon and fork, tongs, and ladles, never by hand.
- Hot food should be served hot, and cold food should be served cold.
9. Washing
- The food waste should be pushed down in the trash, lined with disposable garbage bags.
- The washed items should be allowed to dry by themselves by placing them on a clean table.
- There should not be any food staining operations; food must be handled carefully to prevent the multiplication of bacteria and cross-contamination.
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