Anyone in the foodservice industry knows that the most pressing in-store issue is Food Safety. To the owner/operator, food safety and staffing is what keeps them up at night. The National Restaurant Association reports that most employment categories in the foodservice industry experience a 65% to 113% turnover rate annually. That’s an astonishing percentage and a dominant reason operators need a HACCP Food Safety Program in place. Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point Programs is paramount to your business’ success and is a best practice for training staff for serving the fastest, highest quality meals, every time.

FastCasual.com reports 25% of consumers are likely to report sanitation and cleanliness issues, and a whopping 92% of consumers said they would complain about an unfavorable dining experience either through social media networks or telling family and friends. 

Wikipedia tells us:

Food safety[1] is a scientific discipline describing handling, preparation, and storage of food in ways that prevent foodborne illness. This includes a number of routines that should be followed to avoid potentially severe health hazards.Safe Food

Food can transmit disease from person to person as well as serve as a growth medium for bacteria that can cause food poisoning. In developed countries, there are intricate standards for food preparation, whereas in lesser developed countries the main issue is simply the availability of adequate safe water, which is usually a critical item.[2] In theory, food poisoning is 100% preventable.

We think the most important sentence in this definition is; In theory, food poisoning is 100% preventable.

Why take the chance?

“In theory”…… all things being equal, all circumstances being the same, all practices implemented to the T, administered accurately and timely and by the same set of people trained in the same way. A sort of food safety Nirvana if you will. The reality is, and this may be a hard pill to swallow, these HACCP programs are only as good as the people who are around them. It is each and every employee’s responsibility to maintain these HACCP standards. They are not suggestions, they are the law. Implementing this program is fairly easy. Dine suggests you speak with your Health Department representative to see what the rules and standards are for your area of the country. Many areas of the HACCP program are what some people would consider “no-brainers” wash your hands after handling the raw food or using the restroom. Change gloves between tasks when prepping food etc….Please, do not take anything for granted. Your HACCP program must be taught, revamped and reviewed constantly.Handwashing The dishwasher, the server, the hostess, the busboy, the steward, the delivery guy, everyone is involved in the implementation of the highest standards to remove any and all food safety issues and to uphold the standards of the establishment. We hear the story of an owner who was diligent about his HACCP program. People were fired for minor violations of this program. And yet, each time he visited his restaurant, after going through the hot hold logs and checking the bathrooms for soap, he would grab a chicken, barehanded from the hot box and eat it on the serving line!! OOPS!If ever an owner or operator were going to lead by example, it is in regard to the HACCP program.

There is no room for error or shortcuts. HACCP programs are tiring and repetitive. They are easy to fudge. They can easily be forgotten. The reality is you may forget to implement your HACCP program for one day, that may be the day someone gets sick or the Health Department visits. While you may have forgotten your HACCP, the cold, hard truth is no one will forget the failing score posted in the front window of your restaurant or the article in the paper about the people who fell ill after eating at your restaurant.

Please join us in our next blog as we explore ways to ensure food safety with HACCP implementation.

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