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10 Food Safety Tips for Your Commercial Kitchen

The CDC says nearly 1 in 6 individuals gets sick from foodborne illness because of
poor food safety, 128,000 are hospitalized and 3,000 die from foodborne diseases
each year. Many people, such as pregnant women or the elderly, are at risk of
getting severely sick from foodborne illness. Check out our food safety tips for
your commercial kitchen to ensure your kitchen stays safe for your employees and
customers.

A well-run commercial kitchen means maintaining the utmost cleanliness and safe
conditions for your food preparation. If you were to accidentally contaminate an area with
Salmonella or other dangerous bacteria, your customers and employees could get very sick.
You also need to know how to pass any checks done by the local health department, so your
restaurant can operate with full certification. This also gives you, the owner, peace of mind.

A commercial kitchen can sometimes be so hectic that it can be hard to ensure everything is
done properly. However, it's your duty and the duty of your entire staff, to make sure that
everything runs smoothly. By following these 10 safety tips for your restaurant, you'll make
sure all of the health and safety standards are met and you provide the best for your
customers.

Promote hand washing

The most important food safety tip is with hand washing. This means you provide a
dedicated hand washing station for your employees. This will minimize cross-contamination
and let your employees have clean hands before touching any food, whether it be meat or
vegetables. Even the smallest amount of bacteria can make someone sick if it's on a piece of
food, so hand washing is key. All of your staff should wash their hands for at least 20
seconds under running water after soaping up well.

Don't let sick workers prepare food

The CDC's Environmental and Health Sciences branch conducted a survey of 486 food
workers in nine states. The results showed that 5% of workers said they prepared food when
they were suffering from vomiting or diarrhea. By doing so, they put their customers' health at
risk. You shouldn't need food safety tips to tell you if your employees are sick, keep them
away from the food.

Use Gloves

Your workers should be wearing kitchen gloves when preparing food in a commercial kitchen,
but they can't use the same gloves for every ingredient It's important that they change their
gloves regularly when moving from raw meat and poultry to cooked food. If they don't change
their gloves, they can spread contaminants to the customer's food, which may lead to food
poisoning. Have boxes of gloves available so your workers can change them efficiently and
properly.

Wash food properly

Make sure your staff washes fruits and vegetables properly. Even if a vegetable will be peeled
or skinned, it must still be washed. If you don't wash them, you risk spreading bacteria from
the outside of the produce to the inside as you prepare it. A colander will make the task
easier, as long as it is only used for fruits and vegetables, and not any other ingredients, such
as pasta or raw meats. Tomatoes require special care, as 12 cases of Salmonella have been
linked to tomatoes in recent years. You should never let your tomatoes soak in standing
water, but instead, run them under cold water to scrub thoroughly. Fruits and vegetables
should be washed under cold running water or with a commercial FDA-approved fruit and
vegetable rinse. You can check with your local health department to see which options you
may use in your kitchen.

Cook to the right temperatures

If one food safety tip is imperative, it is knowing your food items safe temperature zones.  Is
your food being cooked to the right temperature? You should make you and all of your
kitchen staff are aware of the guidelines. Chicken, for instance, needs to be cooked to 165°F.
The FDA advises restaurants should cook ground beef to a temperature of 155°F for 15
seconds. This is to prevent E-coli, which is found in ground beef and accounts for many
cases of foodborne illness. Any type of meat being prepared and cooked in a commercial
kitchen should be checked with a meat thermometer for proper temperature. For different
types of meat, you should use different meat thermometers. This will prevent contamination
of cooked meats by raw meats.

Avoid Cross-Contamination
Food illness often stems from cross-contamination, where you can spread bacteria from raw
meat or poultry to ready-to-eat foods. You should separate cutting boards for raw produce,
raw uncooked meat, raw poultry, seafood, and eggs. You may opt to label each board with its
intended purpose or use a color-coded system. Find what works best for your kitchen, but be
sure to keep boards separate from one another. Don't forget to use separate utensils and
meat thermometers as well.

Store food correctly and at the right temperature

All of your kitchen's raw meat and poultry should be kept separate from other foods,
especially vegetables, prepared sauces, and anything else that requires little preparation. The
FDA advises food should be cooled to 41°F or below, and should be cooled in a way that
provides ventilation, such as in a shallow pan so air can circulate around the food. You also
make sure your meat doesn't drip and contaminate other food. Cut vegetables should never
be left out at room temperature, but instead properly stored away. Never store food on the
floor either and have a thermometer in the refrigerator, not just the freezer.

Clean and sanitize preparation surfaces and equipment regularly

Your commercial kitchen staff needs a proper workstation and equipment to do their job
satisfactorily. Use hot soapy water or a small amount of commercial bleach or cleaner on
cutting boards, dishes, countertops and more. Ask your local health department what they
require when it comes to food prep and sanitation. Don't neglect your commercial restaurant
equipment either, and be sure you clean it properly as advised by the manufacturer.

Label food well by date

You need to know what ingredients you have on hand, and also when they arrived, so you
make sure nothing turns bad and is unusable. Remember FIFO, or First In, First Out. Don't be
afraid to throw out old food that you shouldn't use. If you're questioning whether you should
serve something, it's better to throw it out then risk a customer getting sick.

Train your staff

Knowledgeable kitchen staff is good kitchen staff. You need to offer proper training
techniques to your staff, so they're aware of food safety - you may direct them to our food
safety tips blog if you find it useful. If you don't train your staff, they may take shortcuts or
forget things, increasing the risk of your customers getting sick. Each new kitchen staff
member should be shown the proper way to do something, and should also be given
guidelines on what not to do.

If in doubt about any of the tips I've shared, you should check with your local health
department. Having a good idea of what's expected will go a long way towards ensuring your
customers enjoy their meal, and come back. In doubt on what's proper for your kitchen? You
can visit the CDC website for recommendations, statistics and more. You should also visit
FoodSafety.gov to keep up with any food safety recalls, cooking tips, and other important
information.
Even More Food Safety Tips & Tricks:

Know the Danger Zone and The Two Hour Rule

The danger zone is a term used by the food safety industry to refer to the range of
temperature where bacteria will multiply rapidly, often in as little as 20 minutes. The danger
zone is temperatures between 40 °F and 140 °F; here is where Salmonella and other harmful
bacterias can develop in perishable food. Perishable food is any food that must be
refrigerated, such as seafood, poultry, and meat.

It’s important to know how to stay out of the danger zone, and that begins with how long you
let food set out. Food removed from refrigeration should never sit for more than 2 hours, and
if temperature is above 90 °F, then the food shouldn’t be left out for more than 1 hour. The
same goes for any prepared food, such soup, stew and other concoctions. Foods such as
these should also be checked regularly to ensure it is above 140 °F in temperature; if the food
is cool, you must adjust the temperature and check again in 30 minutes

Stop Bacteria from Growing

Bacteria crave warm, moist areas, as this is where they flourish most. To keep bacteria at
bay, make sure that you’re adequately heating or cooling your food within the guidelines:

Hot food must be kept at or above 140 °F, and you can use commercial restaurant
equipment such as chafing dishes, warming trays and slow cookers to keep
temperatures at the proper level.

A cold environment means that bacterial growth is slowed, but not absent from your food.
Cooked food needs to be stored properly in a shallow container at 40 °F or below within the
2-hour window or else you risk bacteria growth. It’s important to remember that refrigerators,
while they can keep bacteria at bay, are still areas where bacteria can grow. Keeping an eye
on your raw foods is important as most raw food can only be in the refrigerator for a few
days before spoiling and becoming unsafe to eat. Food in the freezer under 32°F will have
dormant bacteria, meaning bacteria exist but won’t reproduce.

As you can imagine, bacteria is killed at high temperatures, and once the food nears a
temperature of 145°F, it starts to die. The USDA outlines a recommended minimum safe
internal temperature for various perishable foods, and the following table comes from
their Kitchen Companion: Your Safe Food Handbook. Foods vary by density, size, and how
much handling is required to prepare them so the minimum temperatures aren’t a one-size-
fits-all recommendation.

The USDA recommends letting meat rest for at least three minutes after removing it from
heat before you carve it or eat it.

The best way to measure the temperature of the food is to use a quality thermometer that
can give an accurate reading, especially when preparing meat and other dense dishes. You
should get a reading by inserting the probe into the thickest section and reading the dial,
making sure you aren’t touching a bone, or else you’ll have a false reading.

Want even more insight into proper food safety for your kitchen? Check out the following
infographic from Kitchenbyte.com

Comments

Ivy Baker May 30, 2017

Cleaning your cutting boards well does seem like a good thing o do when you are in a
commercial kitchen. It does also seem like a good idea to use plastic cutting boards.
That way, you don't have to worry so much about cross-contamination. It does seem
like a good idea to get a restaurant quality cutting board.

Ivy Baker May 30, 2017

Cleaning your cutting boards well does seem like a good thing o do when you
are in a commercial kitchen. It does also seem like a good idea to use plastic
cutting boards. That way, you don't have to worry so much about cross-
contamination. It does seem like a good idea to get a restaurant quality cutting
board.

David Air Fryer Sep 15, 2017

The kitchen is one of the most eventful places in our home and it must be clean as
well as some safety precautions must be followed. Your blogs clearly explain the ways
of building safety ways to do the things in the safest way.All points make sense.
Thank you for the information.

David Air Fryer Sep 15, 2017

The kitchen is one of the most eventful places in our home and it must be clean
as well as some safety precautions must be followed. Your blogs clearly
explain the ways of building safety ways to do the things in the safest way.All
points make sense. Thank you for the information.

Amanda Drew May 2, 2018

You make a good point that you should make sure to use only one colander to wash
fruits and vegetables, especially tomatoes to avoid Salmonella. It'd probably also be a
good idea to find something that you could use on different products like veggies and
maybe also dairy products to make sure that you're not accidentally starting out with
anything that has the virus in it. I think that getting and using <a
href="http://culturemediaconcepts.com/products/lactose-broth/lactose-broth-1"
target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">lactose broth</a> is one way to do that, but
your safety practices would also help avoid getting Salmonella.
 Amanda Drew May 2, 2018
You make a good point that you should make sure to use only one colander to
wash fruits and vegetables, especially tomatoes to avoid Salmonella. It'd
probably also be a good idea to find something that you could use on different
products like veggies and maybe also dairy products to make sure that you're
not accidentally starting out with anything that has the virus in it. I think that
getting and using <a href="http://culturemediaconcepts.com/products/lactose-
broth/lactose-broth-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">lactose
broth</a> is one way to do that, but your safety practices would also help avoid
getting Salmonella.

Gerty Gift May 29, 2018

I appreciate what you said about making sure to keep everything properly sanitized
and cleaned regularly. My aunt has been talking about opening her own restaurant and
I want to make sure that she takes good care of all of her equipment. I think that I'll
pass this advice along to her so that she won't have to worry about replacing her
appliances and things before it becomes more necessary.

Gerty Gift May 29, 2018

I appreciate what you said about making sure to keep everything properly
sanitized and cleaned regularly. My aunt has been talking about opening her
own restaurant and I want to make sure that she takes good care of all of her
equipment. I think that I'll pass this advice along to her so that she won't have
to worry about replacing her appliances and things before it becomes more
necessary.

Camille Devaux Sep 20, 2018

I like that you mentioned the importance of labeling your food. This is a great way of
making sure that the people in the food prep area are aware of this. My cousin who
was looking into confectionery suppliers would love knowing this.

Camille Devaux Sep 20, 2018

I like that you mentioned the importance of labeling your food. This is a great
way of making sure that the people in the food prep area are aware of this. My
cousin who was looking into confectionery suppliers would love knowing this.

Sutton Turner Nov 14, 2018

I like how you suggested to label food well by date. I have been working on making my
kitchen a safer place. Thanks for the food safety tips.

Sutton Turner Nov 14, 2018

I like how you suggested to label food well by date. I have been working on
making my kitchen a safer place. Thanks for the food safety tips.

anaya Jan 23, 2019

thank you for this article this helps me a lot

anaya Jan 23, 2019

 thank you for this article this helps me a lot

Cedric Seguela Feb 8, 2019

Thanks, this article is helpful. Considering the food poisoning statistics, promoting
food safety culture is a mission that everyone should aim to accomplish. In my
opinion, staff training is the most powerful asset to do that. At the HACCP app, we
help food professionals keep on top of it with <a href="https://the-haccp-
app.com/food-safety-checklists/" rel="nofollow">food safety resources</a> that they
can use on daily basis.

Cedric Seguela Feb 8, 2019

Thanks, this article is helpful. Considering the food poisoning statistics,
promoting food safety culture is a mission that everyone should aim to
accomplish. In my opinion, staff training is the most powerful asset to do that.
At the HACCP app, we help food professionals keep on top of it with <a
href="https://the-haccp-app.com/food-safety-checklists/" rel="nofollow">food
safety resources</a> that they can use on daily basis.

Ellie Davis Feb 13, 2019

Thank you for pointing out that making sure people are washing their hands is one of
the most important food safety steps. Making sure your employees have the proper
training seems very important. Hopefully, anyone working with food finds the right
food safety class for them.

Ellie Davis Feb 13, 2019

Thank you for pointing out that making sure people are washing their hands is
one of the most important food safety steps. Making sure your employees have
the proper training seems very important. Hopefully, anyone working with food
finds the right food safety class for them.

rohit aggarwal Feb 18, 2019

thanks for the information

rohit aggarwal Feb 18, 2019

thanks for the information

Valerie Mar 21, 2019

Having a restaurant or a food stall is an amazing business. But with such business,
good hygiene is a must. We should always make sure that we serve our customer not
only delicious food but also a safe one to eat.

Valerie Mar 21, 2019

Having a restaurant or a food stall is an amazing business. But with such

business, good hygiene is a must. We should always make sure that we serve
our customer not only delicious food but also a safe one to eat.

Robert Jackson Mar 27, 2019

i have read all blog, i like all 10 Food Safety Tips for Your Commercial Kitchen. All
these tips were most i like Use Gloves and Wash food.

Robert Jackson Mar 27, 2019

i have read all blog, i like all 10 Food Safety Tips for Your Commercial Kitchen.
All these tips were most i like Use Gloves and Wash food.

Ankit Shah Apr 24, 2019

Wonderfully Shared post!! thanks for sharing this great content to my vision, keep
sharing. This will help me choose the right things to maintain the kitchen hygiene.
Thanks a lot!!

Ankit Shah Apr 24, 2019

Wonderfully Shared post!! thanks for sharing this great content to my vision,
keep sharing. This will help me choose the right things to maintain the kitchen
hygiene. Thanks a lot!!

Eliza Wilson May 14, 2019

Worth reading!! These will definitely help many just like me. Cleaning and sanitizing
preparation surface and equipment is also very important and one must not ignore
this factor. For <a href="http://chemstarcorp.com/sanitizers-disinfectants"
rel="nofollow">Food Safety and Sanitation Products</a> needs, I trust "ChemStar
Corporation". Please also share your experience. Thanks!!

Eliza Wilson May 14, 2019

Worth reading!! These will definitely help many just like me. Cleaning and
sanitizing preparation surface and equipment is also very important and one
must not ignore this factor. For <a href="http://chemstarcorp.com/sanitizers-
disinfectants" rel="nofollow">Food Safety and Sanitation Products</a> needs, I
trust "ChemStar Corporation". Please also share your experience. Thanks!!

Trevor Livermore Jul 8, 2019

Wow the substitutions app seems extra helpful to accommodate others in this day
and age. Proper cooking procedures are key!

Trevor Livermore Jul 8, 2019

Wow the substitutions app seems extra helpful to accommodate others in this
day and age. Proper cooking procedures are key!

Sylvia Albro Aug 20, 2019

Thank you so much for the tips! Your kitchen is the heart of your home but it can also
be a case of food poisoning waiting to happen.

Sylvia Albro Aug 20, 2019

Thank you so much for the tips! Your kitchen is the heart of your home but it
can also be a case of food poisoning waiting to happen.

Warnings Expert Sep 5, 2019

 Food safety is must in commercial kitchen as you can maintain various food safety
rules in kitchen by using gloves and covering head by polythene as it will help to keep
food safe moreover you can use some other tips also just like never let sick people to
prepare food as their germs can evaluate and make other person sick.

Warnings Expert Sep 5, 2019

Food safety is must in commercial kitchen as you can maintain various food
safety rules in kitchen by using gloves and covering head by polythene as it will
help to keep food safe moreover you can use some other tips also just like
never let sick people to prepare food as their germs can evaluate and make
other person sick.

John Lucas Jan 13, 2020

I love reading your blog. It is full of so much good information.

John Lucas Jan 13, 2020

I love reading your blog. It is full of so much good information.

Share This!

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