Passing A Passion For Food And Cooking Onto Children

Hygiene Tips for Caterers

If you are a caterer, one of your worst experiences would be someone complaining of stomach upsets after taking your food. As such, it is critical to exercise high hygiene standards when preparing food for large groups of people. A simple mistake could dent your reputation and adversely affect your business. Below are simple hygiene tips that people offering catering services should observe.

Kitchen hygiene

Your kitchen should be spotlessly clean at all times. Besides that, observe the following health and safety standards:

  1. Conduct regular pest inspections in your kitchen. Stored foods could attract pests such as mice that could cause diseases.
  2. Regularly clean all kitchen equipment including deep freezers, dishwashers, fryers, blenders and all utensils used in the kitchen.
  3. Kitchen waste such as leftover food and vegetable peelings must be disposed on a frequent basis. Do not leave such waste lying in the kitchen overnight.
  4. Detergents, pesticides and disinfectants should be stored outside the kitchen as they could contaminate food. 

Staff hygiene

Your staff must maintain high hygiene standards. Below are some of the things you should insist on: 

  1. Your employees should shower daily to remove microorganisms on their skin and in their hair. Also, they should keep their nails short as microorganisms could accumulate under the fingernails.
  2. Preferably, street clothes should not come into the kitchen; ensure that you provide clean work wear for all your staff.
  3. Jewellery such as rings, earrings and bracelets should not be brought to the kitchen.
  4. Make hand-washing a kitchen culture, and provide soap to ensure that staff disinfect their hands before working in the kitchen.
  5. Staff suffering from infectious diseases such as diarrhoea and coughing should be given a break as they could pass disease-causing organisms onto the food.

Food hygiene

Poor quality food could cause illness to those that consume it. Take the following measures when handling food:

  1. Insist on fresh foods from your suppliers. If this is not possible, ensure that the food has been kept cool to avoid the growth of disease-causing bacteria.
  2. All perishable foods should be kept in cold storage once they arrive. Regularly inspect cold storage facilities to ensure that they are in good condition.
  3. Thoroughly wash fruits and vegetables before cooking or serving them to customers.
  4. All cooked meals must be covered to prevent bacteria and bacteria causing insects such as flies from settling on the food.
  5. Food should be tasted in a manner that one's saliva does not come into contact with the food. 

Caterers must observe kitchen, staff and food hygiene to ensure that they provide quality food to customers.