Tips to ensure safe food storage in your restaurant, pub or café

Here are seven key ways in which you can ensure that food is stored safely in your food service establishment…

1. Ensure that all food is stored in air tight containers, as once the food has contact with air it will begin to spoil.  This will also reduce the risk of exposure to other contaminants.
2. Temperature control is absolutely vital, as allowing food to reach a certain temperature prompts bacteria to multiply and spread.
3. Always follow the ‘First In, First Out’ rule to ensure that produce is used within its use by date, and to minimise wastage. Place the newer food delivery behind the older, and make sure that all food is labelled with a date of receipt and a use by date.
4. The 2009 FDA Food Code states that all food must be kept at least six inches from the floor, in order to avoid water, dust, or other contaminants from touching the food.
5. Store meat as low as possible, as the juices can drip downwards and contaminate other food areas within the refrigerator or freezer.
6. Never overload your refrigerator or freezer unit, as too many items will create hot spots, where areas of the unit are not kept cold enough. Try not to block any air vents, as this can result in unsafe storage conditions.
7. Keep all storage areas organised, making sure that all floors, shelves and surfaces are always clean. Label all items so that they are easy to locate, decreasing the time that storage doors are open, allowing bacteria to spread.

Ensure that issues over temperature don’t affect the quality of your stored chilled or frozen storage material and compromise safe food storage.

Abacus Guardian wireless temperature monitoring allows you to remotely monitor the temperature of any room, cabinet or storage area. If the temperature drops or rises beyond the parameters that you have set you will automatically be alerted.

Call us today on 01582 52 80 82 for more information.