Visuals are an integral part of the restaurant and food service industry.  We hear about the presentation of food, the look of the menu, and the appeal of even the décor, but all of these pale in comparison to the powerful impact of visual hygiene.  In today’s open-view kitchens, almost every prep area and employee are visible to the customer.   Handwashing is a definite positive visual for both employees that see co-workers wash and for customers that have a view of the crew in open prep areas. No bare hand contact with read-to-eat foods has also become a positive visual cue for customers indicating a facility is concerned about food safety.

Appearances create an important first impression, but good operators know that you can’t skim the surface when it comes to food safety.   Customers and clients are so much more aware of food safety efforts that are visual to them than ever before from media and consumer education.  Implementing safe food-handling practices, personal hygiene policies, and even strict dress codes for the crew are essential to a safe food system.  In an industry with high employee turnover, where one food safety misstep can spell ruination, the stakes are high.  As such, if you are going to work in the foodservice industry, it is important to be dedicated to food safety.

Basic Hazards—There are 3 common food safety hazards: biological, physical, and chemical.  Let’s look at each of them in terms of the crew’s education and customer protection.   Some are visual to customers and some are practices and policies that are not so visible, but should be in your standard operating procedures for the crew to learn. 

Biological Hazards.  The majority of foodborne illnesses come from the biological contaminants (bacteria, viruses, parasites, fungi).  We commonly refer to that as “food poisoning”, but the biological hazards can result in significant illness or death.  Viruses and bacteria are the biological hazards of most concern and cause the most illness--well over 90%.  Your hands are the usual vehicles for biological hazards.  We cannot see, taste, or smell foodborne illness organisms in food such as Salmonella, E.coli or Norovirus.  The fungi (yeasts and molds) can have a taste or smell and visually show food is spoiled.  Some parasites are visible, but most are microscopic.

The sudden onset of flu-like symptoms, including stomach cramps, diarrhea, vomiting and fever, could mean you are the victim of a foodborne illness.  Causes do vary greatly, but victims often assume the culprit was the last meal they consumed—from a restaurant, although it might well be from their home kitchen.  In fact, foodborne illness can be caused by foods eaten several days prior to the illness.  What seems apparent to the consumer may require health department professionals trained in food protection to help correctly diagnose foodborne illness.  In the worst case scenario, biological hazards can affect large numbers of people simultaneously.  Train the management team how to respond as part of your crisis management policy if a customer calls with a complaint regarding illness.

Biological Controls --Time and temperature control, clean hands, cross-contamination prevention, and good sanitation are the keys to safe food and biological hazard prevention.  Other key points:

• Maintain a high degree of personal cleanliness during all working hours and WASH THOSE HANDS often
• Train and enforce a “no bare hands” rule for handling ready-to-eat foods (sandwiches, fruits, vegetables, cooked foods, etc.).  Use utensils, disposable gloves, paper wraps, tongs, scoops, spatulas, etc.
• Obtain food from reputable, approved sources.
• Inspect food for damage or spoilage when receiving foods from suppliers.
• Check temperatures during all stages of preparation, when placed in cold storage, and when prepared on the prep table.
• Observe time and temperature guidelines (cooking or holding temps) when storing and handling foods whether hot or cold.
• Wash fruits and vegetables in water slightly warmer than the produce.  Talk to your produce supplier about pre-washing if the bag says triple washed (lettuce and greens).
• Store all foods in the right place, at the right temperature, for the right time.

 Physical Hazards include foreign objects that inadvertently get into foods and they are tangible, visual items.  - Here are some quick points about physical hazards:

• Install light shields or plastic coated bulbs on lights in any food storage or production area, including heat lamps.
• Clean can openers & replace the blade occasionally to prevent metal shavings from getting in your food.
• Remove staples, over-wrap etc. from boxes or packages when food is received.
• Do NOT repair equipment temporarily with items that might fall into food:  rubber bands, duct tape, a hairpin or nail in place of a cotter pin.
• Do not use glasses to scoop ice; use commercial scoops.
• Do not store items (containers, juices, garnishes, etc.) in the ice that will be used in foods or beverages.
• Store toothpicks, food picks, straws, wood skewers, and non-edible garnishes below food storage and prep areas.
• Do not store food in containers or bags that are not approved for food storage.
• Do not wear jewelry, artificial nails or nail polish that can get into food.  If you do allow this, disposable gloves should be worn on the hands.  Plain wedding bands with no stones are allowed, but scrub it when you wash your hands.
• If you wear a finger, hand, or arm bandage, a disposable glove should be worn over top.  Also use a brightly colored bandage so it can be seen if it does somehow come off in food.
• Hair, stems, stones, glass, bugs, twist ties, plastic, foil, and a multitude of other things can be physical hazards, so look over your food prep areas to reduce the likelihood.

 Chemical Hazards can be naturally occurring toxins or accidental contamination.  Some foods such as mushrooms and some seafood can contain naturally occurring toxin, which are less common.  Here are some quick points about chemical hazards:

• Keep a written inventory of all chemicals, colorings, and additives used.  Read the label before approving them for your establishment.
• Use cleaning chemicals that are not considered hazardous or are “food safe”.
• Automate the dispensing of cleaning chemicals whenever possible to avoid employee contact with chemicals.
• Ensure that chemicals not compatible with each other are not stored together (check MSDS – Material Safety Data Sheets).
• Never mix chlorine bleach with ammonia products or any other chemicals.  The combination can create a toxic gas.
• Always label cleaning bottles and containers – particularly spray bottles.  Ask your chemical supplier to provide pre-labeled spray bottles.
• Never remove products from the original bottle without properly labeling the new container.
• Avoid storing liquid chemicals on the top shelves.  Store cleaning chemicals separately or below and away from foods.
• Review current procedures for chemical use and provide adequate in-house training for employees.
• Keep up with new regulations regarding cleaning products and ask suppliers to show you new formulations for food service.

Bottom Line:  As a last definitive major biological hazard and quite a visual one—don’t work in a restaurant when you are ill.  Sick employees are the most common route for foodborne disease.  The easy answer is “just say NO”, to working in a food service facility when you have symptoms.