Everyone likes to eat with their family or friends at a restaurant, where proper hygiene and cleanliness is maintained. If you are in the food and beverage business, hygiene should be of paramount importance. You are required to follow certain hygiene and sanitation guidelines, set by the local health officials and government authorities. Not doing so can not only cause food contamination and result in pathogens developing in the premises, but can also ruin the reputation of your brand, if a customer has an unpleasant dining experience.
A well-maintained restaurant leaves a good impression on guests as it gives them a satisfying dining experience. To maintain proper hygiene in your restaurant, here are a few basic hygiene tips that you should definitely follow:
1. Train your staff on how to wash their hands correctly and regularly.
2. Implement efficient monitoring procedures to ensure handwash compliance.
3. Ensure the chefs, waiters, and other staff members, especially those handling food, follow standard operating guidelines.
4. Implement a policy of wearing gloves and educate the staff on how to use them.
5. Set up convenient handwashing facilities in appropriate spots in the premises.
6. Implement thorough hand drying facilities.
7. Use different cutting boards for raw meats, seafood, poultry, and vegetables.
8. Wash utensils, food equipment, and other kitchen items properly with soap and lukewarm water, on a regular basis.
9. Ensure everyone who is handling the food is fit and healthy.
10. Clean the food wastage area regularly, to keep unwanted pests away.
11. Practice a proper daily cleaning schedule. Adjust this, as per peak operational timings.
12. Ensure the washroom always has the essential hygiene items, like handwash liquids, hand-drying devices, and paper towels/ tissue papers.
13. Select high-end floor mats for absorption of water and dirt.
14. Maintain a pleasant smell in the washrooms, with a non-toxic air freshener.
15. Display sanitary inspection and review certifications within your restaurant, to gain your customers’ trust.
16. Maintain the ambience of the restaurant dining areas with aromatic scents, if possible.
17. Ensure the staff, including chefs, are presentable and clean, with proper attention given to grooming and personal hygiene, such as nails, hair, and uniforms.
18. Make sure your delivery operators wash/ sanitize their hands after each outing.
19. While going out on delivery, ensure delivery handlers wear masks/ gloves.
20. Ensure all staff clothing is regularly laundered, since dirty clothes can carry bacteria from outside the restaurant into the kitchen.
As restaurant owners and managers, it is your duty to ensure your staff follows the proper protocols when it comes to maintaining restaurant hygiene. If you are unsure of where to begin or wish to streamline the hygiene process, you should reach out to a restaurant consultant.
Ribbon Consulting is one such restaurant consulting firm that can help you, by setting detailed hygiene and cleanliness guidelines as well as conducting hygiene audits as part of our operational management services.
For more information, you can email us at info@ribbon-me.com , or call us on +971 4360 5758 (Middle East)/ +91 98200 07841 (India).
