September is National Food Safety Education Month, which gives operators, managers, and staff a chance to look over the best ways to keep food safe in commercial foodservice kitchens.
As Florida foodservice professionals might expect, refrigeration plays a crucial role in successfully mitigating food safety issues. If refrigeration doesn't work properly, food waste increases, with the potential for health risks, customer dissatisfaction, and money loss.
Here are some important tips every food business should follow to prevent food spoilage and food waste and to meet food safety rules.
Refrigeration plays a crucial role in safe food handling in any commercial kitchen. Harmful bacteria grow fast between 41°F and 135°F, known as the "food danger zone." Good refrigeration keeps food out of this range, slowing down bacteria growth and keeping food fresh longer. Even more important, reliable and dependable refrigeration can provide these benefits without the headaches associated with downtime.
Here are a few tips to consider with commercial refrigeration and food safety:
One of the easiest yet most useful ways to keep food safe involves maintaining the right temperature in refrigerators. Commercial fridges should keep food at 40°F (4°C) or colder, and freezers need to stay at 0°F (-18°C) or below.
To prevent food from going bad or bacteria from growing, you need to check and adjust your fridge and freezer temperatures, often following industry rules. A digital thermometer can help monitor temperatures, allowing staff to correct issues before they worsen. Temperatures should be checked several times a day to fix any errors immediately.
Food waste is a major concern in the United States. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates that up to 40% of food in the country is wasted. Not only is this bad for the environment but also impacts the bottom line of foodservice businesses. That’s because food that spoils and gets thrown out is money that can’t be recouped in sales, and additional ingredients must be purchased.
The solution? Adding Bluezone® by UV Food Preservation Systems to walk-ins. Designed to keep refrigerated
Purchasing the best refrigeration from reliable companies is the first step in keeping ingredients safe.
Need more space than a reach-in unit? Thermo-Kool has walk-in refrigerators and walk-in freezers for every foodservice business. Built to last and customizable with only a 4-week lead time means always having the refrigeration needed. And when it’s time to cool food down, blast chillers and shock freezers from Thermo-Kool will help keep food out of the danger zone, while helping save on labor.
As important as refrigeration in the ice that’s used in foodservice. Designed for convenience and performance, Follett ice makers not only allow operators to configure machines to suit specific needs, they
Keeping items used in foodservice cool can help protect customers and businesses. With some staff training and great equipment, it’s easier than ever to help commercial kitchens meet food safety standards without giving up on performance.