Food borne illnesses are often the result of eating out in a public restaurant. Just about everyone knows someone who has become ill after eating out. In fact, people can even become sick after cooking something at home themselves if they do not know how to prepare, cook and store food properly. People have even died after eating food contaminated with harmful bacteria. It is very important for anyone prepares and serves food to take a food safety course. It is even more important for someone who owns a restaurant to hire lead cook who has taken a food safety supervisor course.
Restaurant owners will lower their risk of lawsuits by customers that may get sick after eating in their dining establishment when they hire food preparers and servers that have a safe food-handling certificate. It is also important to make sure that you have a lead person who has taken and passed a food safety supervisor course so they can oversee workers underneath them to make sure all food is handled properly so your patrons will not become ill when they eat in your dining establishment.
Handling Raw Chicken and Food Poisoning
Cross contamination in the kitchen is a huge concern for cooks who are preparing meals using raw chicken as chicken if often contaminated with a bacterium called salmonella. A lead cook who has taken a food safety course can teach others how to handle raw chicken safely. For instance, you are not supposed to handle raw chicken and then wipe your hands on a towel.
You should wash down counter tops, doorknobs and knives, etc., with bleach after preparing raw chicken. Always keep separate cutting boards on which to cut up raw chicken and other meats. Use another cutting board to chop vegetables on. People who get salmonella poisoning can get really sick. The kitchen supervisor should always teach others they are working with about the dangers of salmonella poisoning and how to avoid cross contamination in the kitchen.
Safe Food Temperatures are Critical
Taking a food safety supervisor course also teaches food preparers how to cook and store foods at safe temperatures. Cooking and storing foods at safe temperatures is one of the best ways to avoid food poisoning. It is especially important to cook chicken and pork to the right temperatures before serving. Keeping cold foods cold is also very important. Keeping foods the right temperature makes them last longer when stored too. There are safe food temperature guidelines that are available that anyone can refer to.
In fact, restaurant supervisors should post these guidelines in a conspicuous place in the kitchen so everyone who works there is aware of the proper temperatures needed to safely prepare and store foods properly.
Safe Food Handling and the Food Industry in General
Safe food handling courses are necessary for anyone who works in a restaurant. Safe food handling guidelines are also necessary for other professions that handle foods, such as in; butcher shops, meat-packing plants, food processing companies, canneries, and other large-scale companies that handle mass food productions. Fruits and vegetables are also susceptible to food borne bacteria. Just think of all the people who have eaten fresh spinach contaminated with the e coli bacteria who have gotten sick from it in the past.
Many times, the contamination comes from food handlers that do not wash their hands properly after using the restroom. Having a supervisor on site that has taken a food safety supervisor course is critical, not only for the business owner, but for public safety as well. Restaurant owners can protect themselves from lawsuits and keep a good reputation in their communities when they have qualified food-handling supervisors on staff. Food safety courses are affordable and anyone can take a food safety-handling course online. These courses prepare food handlers for taking the test for a safe food-handling certificate today.
This article was written by Hoyt Granger, who believes that everybody must do a Food safety supervisor course, so that they know they are handling their food the right way, and to keep their family safe.
