Issues contributing to food safety
We recently did a quote for wireless temperature loggers in a restaurant. They are incredibly proactive when it comes to food safety. If there is an issue they want to know about it straight away.
Back in the office we brainstormed all the issues that can contribute to food safety. We grouped them into:
- Technological
- Mechanical – fridges, freezers, bain maries, ovens etc
- Chemical – detergents etc
- Testing – temperature loggers, indicator strips etc
- Supply
- Procedural
- Training
- Following
- Auditing
That was a great exercise and we recommend that anyone involved with food safety do it with their team.
But the challenge then comes in to working out how to get around what is in place. Here is a very simple scenario to play with:
Assume someone has received food poisoning from your restaurant/product. How could this be possible?
Give them a name. If you are a restaurant, make up a meal that they had. And assume they went straight to the media (or internet) and you want answers.
Ideally, do not punish your staff for admitting that there are faults in the place. And hopefully you will make food safety a top priority before it is too late.
