If recent years are any indication, we’re likely to experience periods of record-setting heat in the coming months — and this can impact food safety from several different directions. A number of foodborne infections, including Salmonella, E. coli and others, peak in the summer months. Research has also found that food recalls increase during the summer. The blackouts that have become more common on sweltering days can further put food at risk — such events put restaurants in the position of having to keep foods chilled during power outages when outdoor temperatures are compounding the problem. Even on hot summer days when you’re not dealing with the issues above, your kitchen team may still struggle to perform at their best when working over hot equipment — particularly if your kitchen isn’t climate-controlled or well ventilated. It’s a good time to assess how all of these potential issues could affect your restaurant, then put some plans in place to help you avoid problems later. Perhaps that means connecting with suppliers with any concerns about tracing and reporting summer food recalls, having a food safety backup plan in place in case you experience a blackout, and adjusting staffing or work protocols to allow for more frequent breaks during the hot season. Extreme heat has become a way of life in recent summers. The past seven years have been the seven hottest years on record. Further, the number of heat waves each year have tripled since the 1960s, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Those already-high temperatures skyrocket in a busy restaurant kitchen. Hot temperatures are not only dangerous for older workers but a drain on productivity. In a recent article in The Washington Post, Chad Asplund, a sports medicine physician and the executive director for the U.S. Council for Athletes’ Health, said there are similarities between athletes and minimum-wage workers when it comes to pushing physical boundaries in the heat. “I have seen studies that demonstrate that errors for indoor workers start going up 1 percent at every degree above 77 degrees, and that once you get higher than 92 degrees, you start losing your productivity,” he said. While the restaurant industry lacks regulations when it comes to managing heat in foodservice kitchens, expect that to change as more parts of the U.S. experience unseasonably high temperatures – and think now about how you may need to adapt your business to provide relief, in the form of breaks and substitute staff. New safety standards are in the pipeline that could impact your procedures and the frequency of inspections for back-of-house workers exposed to dangerous heat. In response to increased episodes of record-breaking outdoor temperatures in recent months, the Occupational Health & Safety Administration (OSHA) is drafting new standards for restaurant kitchens in an effort to encourage practices like having cold water readily accessible, providing breaks to allow workers to cool off, and helping new workers to gradually build a tolerance to heat, Restaurant Business reports. While the final rules won’t become regulations for a number of months, expect an increase in inspections that cover these practices in the meantime. |
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April 2024
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