Small eatery, but big on food safety

Whether working for a major chain or a small family restaurant, kitchen staff can take pride in their establishment’s standards for quality food and smooth operations.

But big chains can spend serious money running rigorous food safety training; get kitchens designed with every aspect of hygiene and safety considered; supply signage and other useful materials to every outlet; and hire staff dedicated to ensuring the company’s standards meet or excel food safety and hygiene regulations.

Of course chains face their own food safety and hygiene challenges: extending centrally managed standards, training and initiatives is difficult; and ensuring each outlet operates as envisaged by the company’s headquarters is even more challenging.

But what about small establishments? They’re unlikely to have the dedicated personnel to help guide food-safe operations. And it can be tough to stay ahead of best practice and food safety regulations when you’ve got a business to run, and customers to serve, without the time to take a step back and look at whether your day-to-day operations are hygienic and safe. While smaller establishments may not be able to match the big budgets of major chains, they can afford the stuff that really matters: vital signage, and wipes and cleaning products to ensure hygiene in your kitchen throughout the day.

And while we all know what we should be doing to ensure cleanliness and food safety, small operations can get the ‘big chain’ experience for themselves by undergoing their own regular, secret ‘inspections.’

It may seem silly at first, but it’s the best way to ensure you pass the real thing with flying colours.

With a little background research into good practices and things to watch out for, combined with your establishment’s food safety guidelines, any establishment, big or small, can recreate the sort of food safety inspection that will confirm safety and highlight room for improvement.

Buying the right equipment and taking regular checks of food safety processes seriously is all any establishment needs to instil its own high standards for hygiene. Who needs a big budget food safety programme?