Is Your Food Preparation Area Safe? 5 Rules To Keep It Sanitary
Everyone wants to have a clean and safe food preparation area. Whether you sell goods like baked goods or just make meals for yourself, all areas must follow certain food processing sanitation guidelines to ensure that foods are safe to eat. There need to be strict guidelines in place, which is why you should keep reading about the various aspects that matter, including how it should look and what ingredients should be used.
Cleanliness
The first step in making sure that your kitchen is a safe place for preparing food is making sure that it's clean. This includes cleaning up spills quickly, washing your hands before handling food, and using hot water to clean surfaces that come in contact with raw meat or eggs. Raw meat, eggs, and poultry contain harmful bacteria like salmonella. The best way to prevent illness is by using sanitizing products like antibacterial cleaners or wipes when cleaning up any messes in the kitchen or prepping area.
Pest Control
Pests are a constant threat to the safety of your food preparation area. They can get into your food, contaminate it and make you sick. If you have pests in your kitchen, take steps to eliminate them as soon as possible.
You need to have a pest control plan in place. You can use professional exterminators or try DIY methods like traps or peppermint oil spray. Whatever method you choose, make sure that it works — otherwise, you'll just be wasting money on ineffective products and services.
Handling Food
Another rule of food preparation safety is to always handle food safely. This means washing your hands before and after handling food, using clean utensils, making sure that your work surfaces are clean, and wearing gloves when needed. It also means avoiding cross-contamination by using different cutting boards for raw meats than for ready-to-eat foods or dairy products.
Cooking Food
When you're preparing food for yourself or your family, it's important to make sure that the area where you cook is clean and sanitary. The first step is to thoroughly wash your hands with warm water and soap before cooking. Then, make sure that all surfaces are clean and dry before starting to cook. Finally, when cooking meat or poultry, be sure that the meat has reached a safe internal temperature before removing it from the heat source.
Refrigeration
Refrigeration is a great way to keep food safe. Regardless of whether you have a full-size refrigerator or walk-in refrigeration in your business, it is important that you keep it clean and sanitary. You should also make sure that your refrigerator is set at the correct temperature — this will help ensure that your food remains safe to eat. Also, keep all refrigerated areas clean and sanitary for food storage.
Sanitation is key when preparing any kind of food. Contact a food processing sanitation service for help keeping your food preparation areas clean and sanitary.
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