Restaurant Safety: Known Hazard Spots

Food and Kitchen safety is a concern among many Food & Beverage professionals. The below chart illlustrates the most common hazard points in and around the kitchen.

Common Restaurant Hazard Checkpoints:

Personal Hygiene	Deliveries	Shelf Life	Storage Temperatures	Equipment
The risk of contamination begins with you. Make sure you and your team comply to personal hygiene standards.It’s important you check all items before they enter your kitchen. Look out for the feel, smell, expiry date, colour, damage and temperature.	It’s important you check all items before they enter your kitchen. Look out for the feel, smell, expiry date, colour, damage and temperature.	Products should be used within their shelf life. Ensure that the storage instructions are followed.	Make sure you check the basic condition temperatures when receiving goods.	Ensure that equipment thathave been in contact with food are cleaned after use
Storage	Cross Contamination	Preparation	Serving Hot & Cold Dishes	Dishwasher
Store your products in the right way in the freezeror refrigerator, a low moisture room or a dark room. Storage depends on the type of product but fundamentally they should be kept clean and safe.	Keep raw meat and vegetables away from cooked meat, ensure food is covered and protected.	Early preparation is a great time saver but make sure you contain and label ingredients safely.	Hot and cold foods should be kept at an appropriate temperature as soon as possible after plating.	When loading the dishwasher make sure all the dishes and utensils are correctly stacked to maximise performance.
Stewarding	Garbage Disposal	Work Surfaces	Microwaving	Regeneration
Make sure front of house staff pay attention to the personal hygienerules. To reduce the risk of contamination.	Place a bin in a confined area of the kitchen ensuring it doesn’t come into contact with food. Ensure the bin doesn’t become to full andis cleaned regularly by a member of staff, washing their hands after use.	Ensure all equipment and benches are clean and tidy.	Use containers, dishes or utensils appropriate for use within the microwave.	Rapidly cool hot food to 20 C in 2 hours and then to 5°C in another 4 hours.
Heating	Re-heating	Frying	Cutting	Defrosting
Cook foods to a temperature of 74°C or higher to ensure that the food is safe for consumption, do not heat large portions at one time.	When re-heating food ensure it is cooked thoroughly.	Never heat frying fat to a higher temperature than 175°C and filter your fat regularly.	Use separate chopping boards for fish, vegetables, cooked meat and raw meat.	Defrosting should be carried out in a refrigerator or under cold running water where the tempera- ture of the food should not exceed 5°C.