Top Tips for Restaurant Sanitization

Food safety is an essential part of success in the foodservice business. Strict attention to product handling, kitchen procedures, and staff hygiene will help keep your operation healthy. 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, significant outbreaks of foodborne diseases including Salmonella, E. coli, and Listeria have more than tripled during the last 20 years.; they have become more prominent and more deadly. Many foods were involved, ranging from vegetables and fresh fruits to eggs, beef, and chicken. According to the CDC, contaminated foods sicken an estimated 48 million Americans annually, leading to 128,000 hospitalizations and roughly 3,000 deaths. 

Implementing standard procedures to address all of these weak points and then training staff to follow them relentlessly is vital. 

Keeping Clean 

Cleanliness and sanitation are vital not only in the fight against foodborne illness but also for attracting and keeping customers. Implementing Standard Sanitary Operating Procedures is critical, but a foodservice operation is made up of many moving parts, all of which need to be kept scrupulously clean. 

Be sure to reinforce the need for vigilant cleaning and sanitizing practices. Pathogens can spread to food from equipment that hasn’t been adequately cleaned and sanitized between uses. Cleaning removes food and other dirt from surfaces. Sanitizing reduces surface pathogens to safe levels. 

Local health departments can help operators keep up with state and municipality requirements, as well as serve as a resource for technical information. One of the best ways to stay on top of sanitation is a checklist that details procedures for every area of the operation and provides a means for management to conduct a self-inspection. 

Safe Sourcing 

Food safety begins at the back door, with strict attention to product safety and handling: 

• Develop relationships with trusted suppliers who demonstrate food safety best practices and can provide traceability; many operators choose to employ centralized sourcing rather than leaving it to individual unit personnel and work with fewer vendors who follow standard safety protocols. 

• If possible, make site visits to establish and ensure compliance. 

• Ensure qualified staff is onsite to check all deliveries and that food is properly handled at all times. 

Proper Storage 

Hot food hot, cold food cold. Cook all foods thoroughly and maintain safe temperatures at all times. It should be simple, but if it were, there wouldn’t be so many problems—and this is especially true when serving food off-site. It takes diligence and constant monitoring. Particular care should be taken when handling fresh produce. 

Any foods that could cause cross-contamination should be stored as low to the ground as possible so that raw meat, poultry, fish, or seafood never drips on any produce or prepped foods. The same thing applies in the freezer. If your power goes out and meat stored on top defrosts and leaks over the other foods, the chances of cross-contamination go way up, even if all of your ingredients are packaged. Train your staff to always label, date, and initial containers with food, even if they are in a rush.  

Equipment Sanitization 

It’s also important to review your cleaning and sanitizing products. Cleaners must be stable, non-corrosive, and safe to use. Be sure to follow manufacturers’ instructions. Utensils and equipment can be sanitized using heat or chemicals. If you use heat to sanitize, soak items in water at least 171˚F  for at least 30 seconds. You can also run the items through a high-temperature dishwasher. If you use chemical sanitizers, rinse, swab, or spray items with a sanitizing solution. The most common types of chemical sanitizers are chlorine, iodine, and quaternary ammonium compounds. Again, follow manufacturers’ instructions, as well as local regulatory requirements. 

Train staff when to clean and sanitize food-contact surfaces. Clean and sanitize items after each use and before food handlers start working with a different type of food. Also, clean and sanitize utensils and equipment after food handlers are interrupted during a task and the items may have been contaminated. If items are in constant use, clean and sanitize every four hours. 

Staff Cleanliness 

Food safety is a team effort. This includes not only station cleanliness but also health and personal hygiene. Handwashing is the single most crucial step employees can take to avoid contamination. Management should also implement and encourage policies that prevent sick employees from coming to work, particularly if they serve at-risk populations, such as the elderly, or have symptoms of foodborne illness themselves. 

Making sure that you wear your gloves correctly is key to a clean kitchen and lowers the risk of spreading contaminants if the gloves are changed frequently and accurately. You should always wash your hands and dry them before putting on a new pair of gloves. 

The proper way to wash your hands before and after each task is to wet your hands, lather your hands with soap (making sure to clean the backs of your hands, fingernails, etc.), then scrub your hands for at least 20 seconds (some people like to sing the “Happy Birthday” song twice to get an idea of 20 seconds), rinse your hands and then dry them. You always want to do this before putting a glove on as well. This is a great time to have handwashing training to ensure proper sanitation. 

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