 In foodservice, beverages are high-volume menu items that can generate a number of contamination risks – especially as the weather heats up. Here are a few that may need some extra attention in the months ahead: The equipment involved in preparing cold beverages – like your blenders, shakers, scoops, and beverage dispensers – can become contaminated when not stored and/or cleaned properly. Ice contamination is another silent risk – moldy or slimy machines or improper scooping methods can taint drinks. Poor storage practices, like leaving milk or fruit garnishes unrefrigerated – can lead to spoilage and foodborne illness. Lastly, garnishes and toppings, if handled hastily or stored uncovered, can carry bacteria from hands or surfaces straight into a customer’s drink. Minimizing these risks requires staff training, strict cleaning protocols, and proper ingredient handling. It may also help to schedule professional servicing/cleaning of ice machines and beverage dispensers ahead of the summer season, when guests will be looking to refresh with cool drinks.
 Planning to serve food outdoors this season? Warmer weather boosts the risk of foodborne illnesses like Salmonella, E. coli, Listeria, and Campylobacter, which thrive in heat and humidity. These bacteria are often linked to undercooked meats, improperly stored cold foods, and contaminated produce – common foodservice challenges during warm-weather events. To prevent outbreaks, keep cold foods below 40°F, cook meats to safe internal temperatures, and take precautions to avoid cross-contamination. Rinse all produce, even if pre-washed, and train staff on how to ensure food hygiene when serving and holding food in warm temperatures.
In senior care settings, where residents are more vulnerable, food safety oversights can lead to particularly serious outcomes. Residents often have chronic health conditions, reduced stomach acidity, or take medications that suppress immunity. Even simple practices like offering more hydrating foods (like fruit or popsicles) and minimizing buffet-style service in the heat can reduce risk.  For people who are new to foodservice work, the terms cleaning, sanitizing and disinfecting can sound almost interchangeable. But knowing the difference between them – and which to do where and when – plays a key role in preventing contamination and foodborne illness. It can also ensure your business complies with health codes during its next inspection. Is your team clear about the distinctions?
Cleaning is the first step. Using soap or detergent and water, it removes visible dirt, grease and food particles from floors, walls, equipment exteriors and non-food contact surfaces. This process makes surfaces look tidy but does not eliminate bacteria or viruses. Sanitizing follows cleaning for food-contact surfaces like prep tables, cutting boards and utensils. Using food-safe chemical sanitizers or heat, this process reduces bacteria to safe levels, preventing cross-contamination. Items should always be cleaned before sanitizing. Disinfecting is needed for high-touch, non-food areas such as restrooms, garbage bins, doorknobs and employee break rooms. Disinfectants kill most bacteria and viruses but are typically too strong for food-contact surfaces and shouldn’t be used on them. To maintain food safety, clean first, then sanitize or disinfect where needed using clearly labeled solutions.  Foodborne illness can be especially harmful to older adults. According to Foodsafety.gov, adults aged 65 and older are more likely to be hospitalized or to die from foodborne illness. In fact, more than half of Listeria infections occur in this age group, according to the Centers for Disease Control. The body’s immune response to disease becomes weaker with age, which makes it especially important to take good care when cleaning certain areas of the kitchen if you’re serving people in this demographic. Here are a few key hotspots that can be breeding ground for bacteria and mold if not managed carefully: Equipment that traps moisture – including ice machines, beverage dispensers, and refrigerator and freezer gaskets – can harbor bacteria and mold. Other areas where water and food particles are apt to collect, like floor drains and sinks, are culprits too. Regular scrubbing and maintenance to prevent clogs can help ensure these areas don’t trap food or liquid that can harbor pathogens. Cutting boards and prep surfaces can collect bacteria, particularly in cracks or cuts. In addition to cleaning and sanitizing them after use, these items should be replaced when damaged. Finally, ventilation hoods and grease traps can encourage mold growth through the accumulation of grease and moisture. These areas need frequent deep cleaning to maintain a safe kitchen environment.
 Ghost kitchens represent a small but growing segment of the foodservice industry. While Euromonitor research indicates there are currently about 1,500 ghost kitchens in the U.S., by 2030 these facilities are forecast to hold a 50 percent share of the drive-thru and takeout foodservice markets worldwide, according to Statista. Ghost kitchens have promise because of their ability to accommodate consumer demand for food variety, customized dishes and convenience in ways that preserve margins.
But the food safety challenges that ghost kitchens face can be steeper than those of their conventional counterparts. Sharing a kitchen can make cross-contamination harder to prevent and food safety consistency more difficult. Understaffing and high staff turnover can compound the problem – and the nonstandard working hours of the businesses operating these kitchens can make inspections inconsistent. Ghost kitchens rely on delivery drivers, which makes it challenging for operators to monitor quality and safety once food leaves the premises. They also rely on online platforms for communicating about allergens and ingredients, so any delays in updating those systems can put consumers at risk. What’s the best way to manage these hazards? Recently, Food Safety Magazine published results from an online survey, focus groups and interviews with environmental health offers and ghost kitchen operators. Respondents said formal food safety training for staff and delivery drivers would help, as well as more frequent inspections to encourage better adherence to food safety standards. Finding ways to ensure consistent practices was also a theme, with respondents suggesting comprehensive and specific guidelines for evaluating hygiene practices, allergen control and structural standards for all of the businesses sharing a kitchen. If you operate a kitchen alongside other businesses, what practices do you use to ensure food safety consistency?  Preparing meals for large groups can be a minefield when it comes to accommodating dietary needs and keeping guests safe. Food allergies alone pose a huge challenge. (Nearly 11 percent of adults aged 18 or older have at least one food allergy, and more than half of adults with food allergies have experienced a severe reaction, according to Food Allergy Research & Education.) Chefs have the task of dissecting the ingredients in a dish, retaining the intended flavors and textures when substitutions are made, and avoiding cross-contamination during preparation. How can they best accomplish that? Multi-layered communication is critical. Up through your supply chain, ensure you trust the consistency, accuracy and clarity of ingredients. Conduct ongoing staff training to emphasize the potential severity of food reactions and how easily they can occur. Collaborate with partners using digital tools that keep documents consistent and updated. On menus, use clear markers or sections to identify ingredients that may pose problems to some guests – and again, use digital tools to ensure you’re providing the correct version of an ingredient list.
Going back to basics may help too. At a time when the use of prepackaged ingredients is widespread in commercial kitchens, some chefs are relying on scratch cooking to deliver the precision they need. That’s what Michael White, executive chef in Food & Nutrition Services at Regions Hospital in St. Paul, Minn., and his team do. White says scratch cooking (often using local sources) helps him more closely oversee the ingredients that go into the 64 different diets the hospital must accommodate, which include mineral and calorie restrictions, as well as texture and liquid modifications.  In a restaurant, a food safety issue can snowball quickly into a health and public relations concern. Your employee training can help contain the issue. If and when a guest alerts your staff to a food safety issue, do you trust that your staff communicates in a way that protects customers and maintains trust?
Your staff can manage a reported food safety concern by acknowledging the incident and apologizing without getting defensive. They can record what the guest ate and when, as well as any symptoms they experienced, then agreeing to investigate the cause and follow up with them. From there, your team can review the preparation process of the suspected dish, checking storage, cooking, and serving practices to ensure proper hygiene and temperature control. Inspect the ingredients for signs of spoilage or contamination and verify supplier records. Investigate risks of cross-contamination, such as improper handling of raw and ready-to-eat foods. Were cleaning protocols followed for utensils and surfaces? Examine staff hygiene practices, equipment cleanliness, and the overall kitchen environment for lapses. Review food safety records, including temperature logs and cleaning schedules. If you suspect foodborne illness, notify health authorities and cooperate fully. Finally, take corrective actions, such as enhancing staff training or updating procedures, and follow up with the guest to provide transparency and reassurance.  At a time of year when seasonal illnesses run rampant, foodservice operations must manage a difficult balancing act: When an employee feels unwell, should they come to work – or take time away from a busy shift to recover? If you’re like most foodservice businesses, you have a written employee health policy that helps guide your operation’s management of staff wellness. But that doesn’t mean it’s doing its job. According to a recent study by the International Association for Food Protection, over 98 percent of foodservice businesses surveyed have a written employee health policy. Yet when it comes to demonstrating accountability for and awareness of that policy, the numbers drop dramatically. For example, only 9 percent of respondents said they had a wellness check before a shift and 7.5 percent said their policy was reinforced by management. If this sounds familiar, consider how your operation compares to the restaurant brand First Watch, which was awarded the 2024 Food Safety Excellence Award from Steritech. Winners of this award must demonstrate their food safety performance against seven pillars: leadership, communication, standards, training, scorecard, oversight and recognition. In a recent webinar from Steritech and the National Restaurant Association, First Watch food safety leaders explained that their employee wellness policy is something that all staff must read and agree to. From there, the restaurant uses the third-party service Zero Hour Health to manage their health program. All employees are trained that when they feel ill, they have to report to their manager and complete an electronic survey about their health symptoms. Nurses and health representatives from Zero Hour Health review the responses and provide clear feedback (in the form of a green check or a red X) indicating whether it’s okay to return to work and when. Looking at your own operation, do you see opportunity to remove any food safety risks related to employee wellness?
 Keep pace with tech’s food safety risks
Technology has brought a number of safety-enhancing changes to foodservice kitchens: Sensor-connected appliances are helping to ensure foods are cooked to the proper temperatures, while voice-activated and touch-free technology are containing cross-contamination risks. However, some innovations have introduced new risks to manage. Tablets and other smart devices with touchscreens, specifically, can pose contamination risks, according to a new study by Queens University in Belfast, Ireland. During the study, participants had their hands and personal devices swabbed to analyze for bacteria. During a 30-minute cooking activity, they touched their smart device almost six times on average. After cooking, around 6 percent of pre-cleaned devices were contaminated with potential food-poisoning bacteria. A Food Safety News report about the study said using antibacterial wipes containing alcohol can reduce contamination on smart device surfaces. However, microbial analysis found that Salmonella and E. coli could survive on tablet touchscreens for more than 24 hours at room temperature, potentially contributing to cross-contamination. In the context of a large residential facility or a business serving vulnerable populations, a safety risk (whether in the front or back of the house) can multiply quickly. As foodservice practices evolve, so should food safety – and the training that supports it, according to food safety expert Francine Shaw. “I encourage food businesses to view advancements in food safety…as meaningful investments rather than mere expenses,” she said in a recent report from Quality Assurance Magazine. “When implemented effectively, the return on investment can be substantial. These initiatives can help minimize recalls, lower labor costs, enhance consumer trust, reduce foodborne illnesses and ultimately save lives.”  Food safety is having a consumer confidence crisis. According to a recent Gallup poll, 42 percent of Americans have little to no confidence in the government’s ability to keep food safe. It’s easy to understand why: In 2019, the government issued 330 food recalls. In just the first six months of 2024, there were 578 – and they often generate news headlines. In the current economic environment, foodservice operations must not only entice consumers to spend money on meals away from home, but they must also take extra precautions to demonstrate that the food they serve is safe.
As you prepare to start the New Year, is there room to improve your operation’s approach to food safety? Much of it comes down to culture – that includes making a top-down, daily commitment to food safety, encouraging all employees to take ownership of it, helping staff understand the “why” behind safety precautions and connecting the why to specific tasks, and discussing food safety as a means of improving business (not as a tick-the-box exercise). On that note, consider food safety records to be your friend: They can help you prevent repeating tasks, ensure tasks are carried out correctly and consistently, and improve traceability in case of a recall. What’s more, careful recordkeeping can save you time in the event of a food safety violation by helping you demonstrate that a compliance problem was an isolated incident – not a widespread problem requiring time-consuming investigation. Bringing in a consultant can help you show your commitment to food safety in your operation, as well as reinforce the connection between the potential consequences of a food safety problem and the specific actions needed to prevent one. Contact Team Four if you need a food safety tune-up in the New Year. |
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