Food Safety Tips for Your Restaurant During COVID-19

With a growing focus on hygiene and social distancing, the recent COVID-19 pandemic has spelt trouble for all, especially those in the restaurant business. The restaurant industry worldwide is facing an existential crisis, and if they want to stay in the business, then adopting new safety measures should be a top priority.

Mentioned below are a few food safety tips for restaurants that need to be adhered to during the current pandemic and beyond. Along with this, we’ll also look at what part Cloudtap Internet Water plays when it comes to maintaining hygiene and sanitization.

A] Food Safety Guidelines During COVID-19

• Work With Limited Staff and Be Vigilant

  The lesser the number of people in the workplace, the fewer the chances of the infection spreading. During these unusual times, restaurants should make-do with limited staff. This will ensure the safety of all - employees and customers alike. Also, be vigilant and send your staff home if anyone shows even mild flu-like symptoms - fever, cough, shortness of breath, as the COVID-19 virus can spread rapidly if not contained.

• Educate the Staff on Sanitization Practice

  While hygiene and safety precautions were always a critical part of running a restaurant, business owners need to take this a step forward and educate their staff on the proper sanitization practice for self, equipment, and the workplace. Since employees play a major role in preparing and serving meals, food safety must begin with them practising the right sanitization methods. This will help safeguard the health of the employees and will ensure that there is no contamination of food whatsoever.

• Make Use of Disposable Gloves

  Another food safety tip for restaurants is to make use of disposable gloves while handling and preparing food. The employees must change gloves frequently to prevent the build-up of bacteria on the surface of the hand. They also need to wash their hands thoroughly in between changing gloves. Plus, they must avoid touching their mouth and eyes while wearing gloves to prevent food contamination.

• Handwashing Is Important

  Disposable gloves should not be used as a substitute for handwashing. Between the two - the washing of hands and gloves - handwashing offers greater protection from likely infection. Also, it is important to note that the COVID-19 virus can easily contaminate disposable gloves, which is the reason why frequent washing of hands with soap for at least 20 seconds in essential. Your employees should wash their hands when they arrive at the restaurant, in between preparing orders, after eating their meals and bathroom breaks, while handling money, after cleaning the work area and before leaving the work premises.

• Sanitize All Equipment

  Along with washing hands and personal hygiene, restaurant owners also need to ensure that the employees are sanitizing all equipment that they are using. From cookware, kitchen knives and cutting board to serving glass, plates and other frequent contact surfaces like door handles, proper disinfection and sanitization techniques must be employed to protect against COVID-19.

• Minimize Contact within the Workspace

  Even with limited staff, restaurant owners need to ensure that there is minimum contact within the workspace and social distancing rules are followed. Limit the use of shared workspace and disinfect shared surfaces after each use. Make sure that your employees cover their nose and mouth when sneezing or coughing and are maintaining at least 1 metre of physical distance between each other.

• Take Precautions With Suppliers

  Here again, minimal contact plays a vital role. Any supplier entering the premises should be screened at the entry point. Alcohol-based hand sanitizer should be made available for drivers before passing delivery documents or products. Also, suppliers should use disposable packaging and containers to reduce the risk of infection.

• Ensure the Delivery Drivers Are Taking Precautions

  Along with the suppliers, you should also ensure that your delivery drivers are taking proper precautions when handling and delivering meals. Beginning with personal hygiene, outline the delivery instruction the driver needs to follow to limit exposure. Ask your customers to opt-for contactless drop-off, wherein they order food online using various food delivery apps and pay in advance. The driver will then leave the food package outside the customer’s door and inform them via call. This adds another layer of protection limiting any sort of contact.
  Apart from the above food safety guidelines, restaurant owners can implement various other practical measures that limit the exposure from coronavirus.

B] What Part Does Internet Water Plays in Hygiene and Sanitization?

Adding on to food safety tips and restaurant kitchen safety rules, restaurants now have an even greater responsibility of prioritizing the health of employees and customers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Apart from physical distancing, sanitization plays a crucial role in curbing the spread of the deadly coronavirus. As such, here, Internet Water can ensure that pure water devoid of all contaminants is available at all times for proper sanitization of all touch-points and surfaces in the restaurants.

For smart water management, Cloudtap RO+UV water purifier for restaurants is an ideal choice as it comes with triple-zero assurance; zero pathogens, zero downtime and zero CAPEX and maintenance. From ensuring food safety while preparing food, to ensuring your staff is maintaining personal and workplace hygiene, Internet Water can help with the entire disinfection process, thereby limiting the exposure of cross-contamination.

To Sum up;

While Cloud Kitchens seems to be the future, restaurants would require ample time and planning to change their existing model to be aligned with the changing times. In the meantime, restaurant safety tips mentioned above are a few best practices that can help you gain the trust of the customers ensuring you have a thriving business, which considers the health of all - customers and employees alike.

Likewise, Cloudtap can play a significant role in ensuring that your establishment can meet the required water standards while helping you maintain hygiene at the workplace. So, switch to Cloudtap water purifier for restaurants and arm yourself with the means necessary to fight-off the deadly COVID-19 virus.