Maintaining Food Safety in the Commercial Kitchen

While even produce consumed fresh from the farm can sometimes pose a risk to the health of consumers, the risk is far greater in the case of processed foods, given its repeated handling by people and machinery. It is, therefore, vital to maintain the highest standards of food safety, both in this key industry and wherever meals are prepared in bulk.

The potential risks, in each case, are of three main types. Physical contaminants such as hair, fingernails, insects, and pieces of plastic or glass can generally be prevented simply with close surveillance, careful sourcing of ingredients, and appropriate protective clothing. However, dealing with the possible chemical and biological threats to food safety requires workers to adopt a more stringent approach.

For example, working surfaces need to be thoroughly cleansed of any traces of product and must also be left free of any residue from cleaning agents. Items such as nozzles, pipes, utensils, and machinery used will need to be sterilised after use, where practical, in an autoclave.

Whether it is prepared in an industrial-scale manufacturing plant, a hotel kitchen, or a busy restaurant, a strict policy of enforcing the establishment’s food-safety practices is essential. To ensure that such measures work, it is not only the actions adopted that are important but also the quality of the tools used to perform them. Pescatech, an acknowledged leader in this important field, provides world-class hygiene solutions to the South African food-and-beverage industry.