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National Food Safety Education Month

Sep 28th 2017 - Guest Blog, 

National Food Safety Education Month

Since September is National Food Safety Education Month, now is the perfect time to ensure all your foodservice safety essentials are up to date. Whether you operate a café, food truck, restaurant, or concession stand, these items will help you satisfy local health codes while also keeping your staff and diners safe.

Hand Soap Dispensers

hand soap dispenser

Keeping your staffs’ hands clean is crucial to preventing the spread of germs. Hand soap dispensers—especially hands free units—make it easy for workers to quickly and thoroughly wash their hands. By always keeping their hands clean, staff members will get sick less often and consequently keep your foodservice operating at optimal efficiency.

For more useful information related to the hand washing, check out this comprehensive article from Universal Class. It covers everything from when to wash your hands to proper hand washing technique.

Disposable Gloves

disposable gloves

Made with either poly latex, disposable gloves provide an extra layer of protection for chefs who frequently handle raw meat, poultry, and fish. These gloves are easy to dispose of after use and can also be used for cleaning.  Ensuring your hands don’t dry out from frequent washing, the gloves lock in moisture while helping your staff maintain peak productivity.

Meat Thermometers

meat thermometers

For foodservices, undercooking meat is an unforgivable offense. Not only does undercooked meat taste bad, but more importantly it can carry food-borne illnesses like E. coli, salmonella, and listeria. If a diner comes down with one of these illnesses after eating at your restaurant, it most definitely will not be good for business. Keeping your kitchen well-stocked with meat probe thermometers is a great way to prevent such a catastrophe. Cooks use these thermometers to make sure each piece of meat has attained an appropriate internal temperature before being served.

Color Coded Cutting Board

color coded cutting board

Color-coded cutting boards let chefs designate different boards for different food items. For example—one cutting board will be for meat, another for seafood, another for poultry, another for cheese, etc. This helps minimize the risk for cross-contamination and prevent the spread of food-borne illness.

Hair Net

hair net

Especially useful for chefs with long hair, hair nets help ensure food remains pristine and free of unwanted add-ins. Hair nets are available in a couple different styles and several different sizes. Whether you prefer a hair net or cap, there’s an option that satisfies your need.

Grease Proof Floor Mats

grease proof floor mat

It’s one thing for commercial kitchens to be an unsightly mess, but it’s something completely different for their floors to be covered with spilt water or oil. Slippery floors are a significant safety risk that can easily lead to employee injury. Whether this is an ongoing problem at your foodservice or just an issue you want to prevent, grease proof floor mats are perfect for giving staff safe footing in your kitchen. 

First Aid

first aid kit

If you operate a foodservice, you need to be prepared for anything. By equipping your operation with the proper first aid equipment, you’ll have peace of mind and always be able to help those in need. Eye wash stations and first aid supplies like bandages are invaluable to owners that place high priority on the safety of their staff and diners.

Product Labels

food date labels

Cooking with spoiled ingredients can result in food that is bad tasting and has the potential to get diners sick. That’s why using product labels is essential for every commercial kitchen. By clearly labeling when each product will spoil, your kitchen staff will be able to use only the freshest ingredients when preparing meals.

Knife Sanitizing System

knife sanitizing system

Frequently used kitchen knives have a tendency to gather large amounts of unwanted residue. Some of this residue can carry food-borne illnesses and consequently presents a threat to the health of workers and diners. A knife sanitizing system can help mitigate that threat.  Available in several sizes, these units hold and sanitize anywhere from three to a dozen knives.

Oven Cleaner

oven cleaner

While oven cleaner is important for keeping commercial ovens functioning at peak efficiency, it also helps prevent dangerous kitchen fires. If an excess of grease accumulates within an oven, the potential for a grease fire increases. These grease fires can damage ovens and—if not caught in time—sometimes even entire kitchens. But by consistently using oven cleaner to keep ovens free of grease, you’ll reduce the chance of an unwanted fire.  

Chef Coats

chef coat

Classic chef coats do more than just differentiate chefs from servers. Featuring extra thick cotton, these coats give chefs an added layer of protection against scorching hot water, grease, and oil. Since they are more difficult for sharp knives to penetrate, chef coats can be the difference between a small scratch and a deep cut. These coats are also less likely to catch fire compared to regular clothing.