Most foodservice companies are spot-checked by health inspectors
for cleanliness and correct foods temperatures, and cited for code
violations. Too many restaurants try to please the inspector, when what
they ought to be doing is striving for clean, safe conditions simply
because it's the right thing to do, day in and day out.
The foods safety system that's been in use since the 1960s is HACCP-Hazard Analysis of Critical Control Points, which was developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to evaluate its methods of assuring that all foods produced for U.S. astronauts were free of bacterial pathogens. Nothing might be worse than having gastrointestinal difficulties in space! Even these days, decades later, HACCP is considered the absolute standard for food security, far a lot more efficient than simply spot-checking for violations.
It combines up-to-date technical info with step-by-step procedures to help operators evaluate and monitor the flow of food through their facilities. The core objective from the process would be to identify and manage the 3 types of foods security threats in any commercial kitchen:
1. Biological contaminants or microorganisms. These include bacteria, viruses, and/or parasites, which already exist in and on many raw foods products and can be passed on by unknowing employees or clients.
2. Chemical contaminants. These can come from improper storage or handling of cleaning items or pesticides, from cross-contamination, or from substitutions of certain recipe ingredients.
3. Physical contaminants. These are the most common cause of food contamination-foreign objects within the foods, including hair, bits of plastic or glass, metal slivers, and the like-which can be deadly if choked on. You will find seven basic HACCP actions:
1. Identify hazards and assess their severity and risks.
2. Figure out critical control factors (CCPs) in foods preparation.
3. Determine important control limits (CCLs) for each CCP identified.
4. Monitor important control factors and record data.
5. Take corrective action whenever monitoring indicates a critical limit is exceeded.
6. Establish effective record-keeping system to document HACCP program.
7. Establish procedures to verify that HACCP program is functioning.
The first step would be to choose what hazards exist at every stage of a food's journey via your kitchen and decide how serious each is in terms of your overall security priorities. On your own checklist, this may include these items: Reviewing recipes, paying careful attention to times for thawing, cooking, cooling,
reheating, and handling of leftovers.
Giving employees thermometers and/or temperature probes and teaching them how to use them. Correctly calibrating these devices. Inspecting all fresh and frozen produce upon delivery. Requiring hand-washing at certain points within the foods preparation process and showing employees the right way to wash for maximum sanitation. Adding quick-chill capability to cool foods more quickly in amounts over 1 gallon or four pounds.
You will find as many of these possibilities as there are restaurants. The second action is to identify critical control factors (CCPs). This means any point or process in your system where loss of control might result in a wellness risk. If workers use the same cutting boards to dice veggies and debone chickens without washing them between uses, that is a CCP in require of improvement.
Vendor delivery vehicles ought to be inspected for cleanliness; product temperatures should be kept within five degrees of optimum; expiration dates on food items should be clearly marked; utensils should be sanitized; and the list goes on and on. The third action would be to determine the standards and limits for what is appropriateand what isn't, in each of the CCP areas, for your kitchen.
The fourth action within the HACCP program would be to monitor all the steps you pinpointed in Action two for a specific period of time, to be sure every area of concern is taken care of correctly.
Some CCPs may remain on the list indefinitely, for constant monitoring; others, once you get the procedure right, might be removed from the list after several months. Still others may be added to the monitoring list as required.
Step 5 kicks in whenever you see that one of the "critical limits" (set in Step 3) has been exceeded, and corrective action should be taken. Action 6 demands that you simply document this whole procedure. Without documentation, it's hard at best to chart whatever progress your facility may be making. If there's a problem that impacts customer wellness or security, having written records is also very essential.Finally, action 7 requires that you establish a procedure to verify whether the HACCP program is functioning for you.
This might mean a committee that meets frequently to discuss wellness and security issues and to go more than the documentation needed in Step six. Despite its thorough and science-based method to foods safety, some operators are reluctant to make use of the HACCP plan, simply because of its technical language and also the fair amount of procedural discipline and documentation it involves.
For this reason, in June 2005, the U.S. Department of Agriculture released a new, simpler set of implementation guidelines aimed at school foodservice. Unfortunately, the name is as unwieldy as some believe is the HACCP plan itself: "Guidelines for School Food Authorities Developing a School
Food Security Plan Based on the Procedure Method to HACCP Principles." Francesco Zinzaro has been involved with online marketing for nearly 3 years and likes to write on various subjects. Come visit his latest website which discusses of Restaurant Fridges and fridges supplies for the owner of his own business.
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Francesco_Zinzaro/478030
The foods safety system that's been in use since the 1960s is HACCP-Hazard Analysis of Critical Control Points, which was developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to evaluate its methods of assuring that all foods produced for U.S. astronauts were free of bacterial pathogens. Nothing might be worse than having gastrointestinal difficulties in space! Even these days, decades later, HACCP is considered the absolute standard for food security, far a lot more efficient than simply spot-checking for violations.
It combines up-to-date technical info with step-by-step procedures to help operators evaluate and monitor the flow of food through their facilities. The core objective from the process would be to identify and manage the 3 types of foods security threats in any commercial kitchen:
1. Biological contaminants or microorganisms. These include bacteria, viruses, and/or parasites, which already exist in and on many raw foods products and can be passed on by unknowing employees or clients.
2. Chemical contaminants. These can come from improper storage or handling of cleaning items or pesticides, from cross-contamination, or from substitutions of certain recipe ingredients.
3. Physical contaminants. These are the most common cause of food contamination-foreign objects within the foods, including hair, bits of plastic or glass, metal slivers, and the like-which can be deadly if choked on. You will find seven basic HACCP actions:
1. Identify hazards and assess their severity and risks.
2. Figure out critical control factors (CCPs) in foods preparation.
3. Determine important control limits (CCLs) for each CCP identified.
4. Monitor important control factors and record data.
5. Take corrective action whenever monitoring indicates a critical limit is exceeded.
6. Establish effective record-keeping system to document HACCP program.
7. Establish procedures to verify that HACCP program is functioning.
The first step would be to choose what hazards exist at every stage of a food's journey via your kitchen and decide how serious each is in terms of your overall security priorities. On your own checklist, this may include these items: Reviewing recipes, paying careful attention to times for thawing, cooking, cooling,
reheating, and handling of leftovers.
Giving employees thermometers and/or temperature probes and teaching them how to use them. Correctly calibrating these devices. Inspecting all fresh and frozen produce upon delivery. Requiring hand-washing at certain points within the foods preparation process and showing employees the right way to wash for maximum sanitation. Adding quick-chill capability to cool foods more quickly in amounts over 1 gallon or four pounds.
You will find as many of these possibilities as there are restaurants. The second action is to identify critical control factors (CCPs). This means any point or process in your system where loss of control might result in a wellness risk. If workers use the same cutting boards to dice veggies and debone chickens without washing them between uses, that is a CCP in require of improvement.
Vendor delivery vehicles ought to be inspected for cleanliness; product temperatures should be kept within five degrees of optimum; expiration dates on food items should be clearly marked; utensils should be sanitized; and the list goes on and on. The third action would be to determine the standards and limits for what is appropriateand what isn't, in each of the CCP areas, for your kitchen.
The fourth action within the HACCP program would be to monitor all the steps you pinpointed in Action two for a specific period of time, to be sure every area of concern is taken care of correctly.
Some CCPs may remain on the list indefinitely, for constant monitoring; others, once you get the procedure right, might be removed from the list after several months. Still others may be added to the monitoring list as required.
Step 5 kicks in whenever you see that one of the "critical limits" (set in Step 3) has been exceeded, and corrective action should be taken. Action 6 demands that you simply document this whole procedure. Without documentation, it's hard at best to chart whatever progress your facility may be making. If there's a problem that impacts customer wellness or security, having written records is also very essential.Finally, action 7 requires that you establish a procedure to verify whether the HACCP program is functioning for you.
This might mean a committee that meets frequently to discuss wellness and security issues and to go more than the documentation needed in Step six. Despite its thorough and science-based method to foods safety, some operators are reluctant to make use of the HACCP plan, simply because of its technical language and also the fair amount of procedural discipline and documentation it involves.
For this reason, in June 2005, the U.S. Department of Agriculture released a new, simpler set of implementation guidelines aimed at school foodservice. Unfortunately, the name is as unwieldy as some believe is the HACCP plan itself: "Guidelines for School Food Authorities Developing a School
Food Security Plan Based on the Procedure Method to HACCP Principles." Francesco Zinzaro has been involved with online marketing for nearly 3 years and likes to write on various subjects. Come visit his latest website which discusses of Restaurant Fridges and fridges supplies for the owner of his own business.
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