Food Safety & Hygiene in a Commercial Kitchen: What You Need to Know

No matter if you’re working in a restaurant, school or office commercial kitchen, it’s important to learn the proper safety guidelines to keep staff and patrons safe. There are four main steps to follow for proper food safety and overall hygiene of a commercial kitchen. They are clean, separate, cook and chill. In this article, we’ll be breaking each of these down as well as providing more information that’ll ensure your kitchen staff is knowledgeable about how to keep customers and staff safe from foodborne illness.

Four Steps to Food Safety & Hygiene

Keep these four steps in mind when preparing or cooking to ensure that you keep yourself and your customers safe from potential foodborne illnesses.

1. Frequently Wash Hands and Surfaces

foodborne illnesses are caused by germs that spread from raw meats or unwashed veggies. Make sure to keep counters, equipment and hands clean especially after working with uncooked meat.

2. Avoid Cross-Contamination

Keep all uncooked meats separated from ready-to-eat foods until ready to cook. This will prevent unwanted cross-contamination of the germs that can cause sickness to the other foods in the fridge or on the cutting board.

3. Ensure Proper Internal Temperatures

Making sure your foods are reaching the proper internal temperature is important to kill all the germs that can cause a foodborne illness. Make sure you use a probe thermometer correctly so you can monitor the temperatures of your food.

4. Refrigerate Properly

Bacteria grows rapidly when meat is left out and reaches between 40℉ and 140℉, or the “Danger Zone.” Refrigerate perishable foods within 2 hours of prepping and, if thawing foods, do so in a  bowl of cold water in the fridge or in the microwave.

Common Food Safety Mistakes

When it comes to learning best practices for food safety and hygiene, it’s important to learn about the myths to avoid getting yourself, your staff or your customers sick. Here are a few of the common food safety myths and mistakes you may have heard:

• Thaw foods by setting them on the counter or in the sink.
• Be sure to peel fruits and veggies before washing them.
• Wash raw meat before cooking.
• Use your senses like taste and smell to check if a food is still good.

Do not use the above information to ensure proper food safety. They are incorrect ways to go about checking and preparing foods in a commercial kitchen.

Benefits of Food Safety Certification

Getting a food safety certification is a great way to inform your staff of proper safety protocols when it comes to food handling. The process includes a training course on how to properly prepare, handle, cook and store foods in a commercial kitchen. Some benefits include:

• The ability to maintain food quality
• Learning how to avoid risks
• Becoming legally compliant

Learn more about how to get food safety certified to get the process started for your commercial kitchen staff.

Best Hygienic Kitchen Practices

As mentioned earlier, it’s important to keep best practices in mind when it comes to a commercial kitchen space. Here are some of the best hygienic practices to keep in mind when cooking, preparing or washing anything in your kitchen:

• Properly sanitize your dishes
• Wash hands often
• Incorporate the FIFO method when it comes to food storage
• Keep tools and equipment clean
• Regularly wash towels and rags that are frequently used for spills, etc

Keeping Up With Food Safety & Hygiene in a Commercial Kitchen

While the above information is a great place to start, there’s so much more that goes into keeping staff and customers safe from foodborne illness. Check out the overviews of the articles below to get a better idea of all you need to know about food safety and hygiene.

Best Practices for Maintaining Food Safety

To stop the spread of harmful germs, there are some best practices that should be enforced in the kitchen. These include monitoring refrigeration temperatures, checking food temperatures, handwashing, using the correct gear and much more.

Learn more from our guide on Best Practices for Maintaining Food Safety

Understanding HACCP

The HACCP, or Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point, system helps identify where the hazard points are in your kitchen. Keeping with this approach, you can conduct hazard analysis, determine critical control points, establish critical limits, monitor procedures, establish corrective action and better establish documentation procedures.

Learn more from our guide on Understanding HACCP

Proper Handling and Storage of Food

In addition to keeping counters and equipment clean, a big part of food safety is proper handling and storage techniques. Be sure to wear gloves when handling foods, use the correct packaging, use labels to prevent using spoiled foods, make sure each food is stored at the correct temperature and prevent cross-contamination.

Learn more from our guide on Proper Handling & Storage of Food

Tips for Preventing Cross-Contamination

Cross-contamination can be spread through incorrect food handling, unclean surfaces and, of course, uncooked foods. It’s important to make sure your foods are cleaned properly, separated when stored, cooked to temperature and stored at the right temperature to avoid spreading germs.

Learn more from our guide on Tips for Preventing Cross Contamination

Training and Certification Requirements for Kitchen Staff

There are many certifications one can have when working in a commercial kitchen but none as important as those for food safety and handling. Some of the most common training and certifications kitchen staff can work towards include the food handler certification, food manager certification, HACCP certification, allergen awareness certification and alcohol safety certification.

Learn more from our guide on Training & Certification Requirements for Kitchen Staff