Australian Food Safety Blog

If you are a restaurant professional in Melbourne, whether your restaurant is large or small, you need to make sure that proper sanitation and health concerns are one of your top priorities.

There is a good chance that you know of, or have even been to a restaurant that has suffered from health code issues. The repercussions of this can be immense.  The most obvious and potentially devastating sign of poor food hygiene is sick customers. This of course is an unpleasant situation for customers and in the best case scenario, they will simply never return to your restaurant again. In the worst case scenario, they will sue!

Recovering from the loss of reputation that results from poor food safety can be nigh on impossible. Because of this it makes much more sense to protect yourself and your customers by ensuring that your food safety standards are high to begin with.

When you are looking at the maintenance of good food hygiene, you will find that at the most basic level, it is a matter of cleanliness.  All of the handling and storage areas should be kept clean and anyone handling the food must be aware of what they are doing and take the proper precautions.

Food should be thoroughly cooked, and whether being stored or served, should be at an appropriate temperature to prevent the multiplication of bacteria.

Cross contamination, especially with regard to meat, is also something that requires constant vigilance. Meat should always be stored in such a way that accidental drippings will not contaminate other foods.

An extremely important aspect of good food hygiene in the kitchen is the idea that anyone who handles food in your kitchen should be well trained and aware of the safety procedures in place.  Before and after handling food, they should wash their hands with warm water and liquid soap, and after washing, they should make sure that they dry their hands on a towel intended for that purpose.  Hand washing is the core of good hygiene in the kitchen and it should be undertaken after going to the toilet, handling money, breaks, and after sneezing or blowing your nose.

Even with a good understanding of food safety, it is important to be aware of the fact that there is a lot to be said for consulting an expert.  You and your staff have a lot going on, and in many ways, it can be difficult to look objectively at a familiar situation and make sure that everything is being done right. However these small details that get overlooked can become a big issue and potentially devastate a business!  It is here that professional services that will assess your safety procedures and suggest improvements come into play.  You can use these services to reduce the chance of a food poisoning outbreak.  In a place like Melbourne where news travels fast, you can bet that this is something that you will be glad you invested in!

Gavin can be contacted at gavin@agbsolutions.com.au or through his website at www.agbsolutions.com.au.

If you are someone who is in charge of one, or several kitchens in the bustling city of Melbourne, you already know that the sanitation and health of both your workers and your customers needs to be one of your highest priorities.

There are many things to keep in mind when you are looking at making sure that your kitchen meets the food safety standards standards that have been set by the health code, but the truth of the matter is that for even the most conscientious of kitchens, it can be easy to get sloppy.

When you are looking at the sanitation of your kitchen and the good health practices of your staff, there are many things that are at stake.  The goal of many restaurateurs is to ensure that customers have an enjoyable experience and that they associate the restaurant with good times.  This is much harder to do if they get sick.

There is also the fact that if you are careless with your sanitation you can, and most likely will run into legal difficulties. There are many things that you can do to help leave legal matters out of your life, and taking care of your health issues is one of them.  Also keep in mind that it doesn’t take much to ruin the reputation of even an established restaurant.

There are some very basic things that can be done to reduce the chances of a food poisoning outbreak at your restaurant.  First, make certain that your staff are educated on matters of food safety.  Verify that they are aware that spoiled food does not necessarily look or smell different from food that is good, and let them know that food must be kept hot or very cold in order to make sure that bacterium doesn’t grow on it.

Remember that all food should always be covered and that raw and cooked foods should always be kept separate. Take some time to make sure that food is not defrosted in the open air and that hands are washed before and after handling food.

Also take care that the various hot and cold places in your kitchen meet the requirements of the local legislation, and always store meats on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator in order to keep juices from dripping down onto other foods. These are the basics for a commercial kitchen, but remember that as a general rule, the busier the kitchen, the more stringent food safety procedures need to be.

Amidst the calamity that dinner time can bring to commercial kitchens it can be exhausting to keep even the simplest orders in mind, let alone adhering to proper food safety procedures. However the reputation of your restaurant depends on these procedures so it is vital that you take no chances. The more streamlined your procedures are the more likely they are to be followed by your staff. Consultation with a food safety expert is often a worthwhile exercise. These people can evaluate your current procedures and suggest any improvements to strengthen your restaurant’s ability to produce safe, quality food.

Gavin can be contacted at gavin@agbsolutions.com.au or through his website at www.australianfoodsafety.com.au.

Recently, Food Processing News did a write up about me – Gavin Buckett, in their Spring 2008 edition. While I generally avoid the limelight, I thought I might share the story with you, my devoted blog readers.

Here goes:

Gavin Buckett completed the Diploma of Food Technology in 2002 and the Diploma of Confectionery Manufacturing in 2003.

Gavin found a passion for food through a part time job while studying Accounting in 1989 and has been involved in the food industry ever since. Fifteen years cooking included winning the Blue Flame Award for Victorian Apprentice of the Year and the Daryl Cox Memorial Trophy. Work also included stints in Singapore and Malaysia.

In 2003, while still cooking, Gavin gained tertiary qualifications in Food Technology and Confectionery Manufacturing at William Angliss Institute.

Gavin is a registered food safety auditor and food safety trainer and specialises in the preparation of HACCP certified food management systems and food allergen management solutions.

“I went to William Angliss Institute for a couple of years studying Food Technology and Confectionery Manufacturing. At the graduation dinner for the course, I was talking to the course coordinator and he gave me the contact details of someone who he said I should call. So I rang her up and introduced myself. She had a client who needed help achieving HACCP accreditation and had too much work on. We developed a relationship and I began to take on her overflow work.” That’s how I started my business in 2003 – totally by accident! I made one phone call and all of a sudden I needed an ABN.”

“I started AGB Solutions Pty Ltd with my wife, Angela in 2005. We are a specialist provider of Food Safety Solutions and Quality Assurance Services to all areas of the food industry including food and beverage manufacturers, distributors, restaurants, caterers, hospitals and aged care facilities to name just a few.”

Future plans for AGB Solutions include working closely with the DHS on the allergen training project, preparation of web based manuals for commercial and domestic clients, an increased range of specialised food safety products and regular food safety based workshops.

Gavin can be contacted at gavin@agbsolutions.com.au or through his website at www.australianfoodsafety.com.au.

Here’s a treat for you – it’s the 11 Point Checklist for HACCP Certification that I take all of my clients through, so you can see how it actually works, from beginning to end.

Click on the video above and see how the process works, and remember the guarantee – all AGB Solutions clients WILL PASS their HACCP certication – you aren’t paying for an hourly service. You’re paying for the result – that is getting HACCP accredited and making food safety a priority in your kitchen.

Enjoy the video, share it with friends, and if you have a food safety need that I can help you with, call me on 0422 922 883 or email me at gavin@agbsolutions.com.au .

Here’s to safe food,

Gavin Buckett

Outbreaks of food poisoning have been in the news a lot as of late. As you know, many of these outbreaks were traced to restaurants. No matter where in the world you are, there are safety regulations which must be followed and Victoria, Australia is no exception.

In many cases of food poisoning, Salmonella is the culprit. Raw poultry and eggs are generally the source of this bacterium in foods, but this bacterium can also be carried by contamination from faeces as well as pet reptiles.

Salmonella is a bacterium which can affect many types of food items. Usually, raw poultry and eggs are the prime suspects in salmonella related food poisoning cases, but contamination from faeces and pet reptiles can also carry these bacteria. There are two ways to prevent salmonella form causing food poisoning which are guaranteed to be effective: thoroughly cooking food before serving and regular, thorough hand washing before, during and after cooking or eating.

Escherichia coli (or E-coli for short) is a form of bacteria which can cause serious illness or even death. Found naturally inside of the human body and in some foods, some strains can be lethal. E-coli produces harmful, toxic substances and includes unpleasant (to say the least) symptoms including watery and/or bloody diarrhea. A healthy adult can generally weather a case of E-coli food poisoning, but the elderly, the sick and young children are at risk of getting very ill if infected. As with salmonella, the way to prevent E-coli infection is thorough cooking and regular hand washing, along with careful cleaning of all cooking areas. Hand washing should become a thoroughly ingrained habit. You use your hands to pick up everything – even harmful microbes.

With all of the stories about food poisoning in the news, it’s understandable that some people are a little nervous about dining out. To make sure that your establishment keeps your customers safe from the risk of infection, be sure to follow the HACCP principles. HACCP stands for Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points and is a set of principles designed to make sure that foods prepared for people to eat are safe. Many of these regulations are simply common sense, such as putting milk back into the refrigerator after use or dating items before freezing.

Being in charge of a restaurant means that you have to keep a handle on a lot of things at once – make sure that HACCP principles are at the top of your list. All of the hard work you’ve put into your business could be lost if someone gets ill from your food due to a preventable mistake by an employee unaware of the food safety regulations.

Having a HACCP certified kitchen is very marketable. If you have received stickers or certifications from health officials, be sure to place them where your customers can see them. This way they know that the food which you are serving to them was prepared in a clean kitchen which complies with health and safety regulations and they can dine in without getting anxious.

Check out our latest video: it explains what HACCP is and answers some of the most commonly asked questions about HACCP and how AGB Solutions implements this.

Do you make these mistakes in your facility?

• What do you know about your cleaning chemicals?
• How safe are they?
• Is price the best way decide on which chemical to use?
• What should my chemical supplier be telling me?

• The chemicals came in flat pack bags, that reduced space during transport and storage and were intended to be diluted by the end user of the product prior to use. There were two labels for the same product (sanitiser), which contradicted each other (it meant that one product when diluted was 100 times more concentrated than the other (remember these chemicals are coming in contact with food contact surfaces)
• All of the labels stated that chemicals should be diluted into a 5 litre container, apart from one, that needed to be diluted into a 20 litre container. The company only provided a 5 litre container in which to dilute the product (what do you do with an open bag of cleaning chemical???)
• The food surface sanitiser and window cleaner were both the same colour.
• The label of the sanitiser indicated that the product should be blue (when diluted the chemical was red). It was later discovered that the person responsible for mixing the chemicals, decided one day to change the colour – it should have been blue.
• The chemical that should have been red was a degreaser
• The material safety data sheet for the detergent indicated that the chemical should be green. The chemical was yellow.

Cleaning chemicals are vital in providing a safe food working environment, however they are also very dangerous if not used properly. I have three very simple rules for the storage of chemicals in food businesses:

1. Chemicals must be clearly labelled
2. Chemicals must be stored away from food storage and preparation areas
3. Chemicals must not be stored in the same containers as food

Your chemical supplier should provide you with a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) the first time that they supply you with chemicals. The MSDS should contain:

• Name of chemical
• The name and contact details of the supplier
• The date of issue of the MSDS
• The colour of the chemical
• The intended use
• Dilution factors (if relevant)
• First aid information
• Personal protective equipment required for using the chemical
• How to store the chemical
• The composition of the chemical (active ingredients etc.)

These MSDS should be stored and be available wherever chemicals are used and stored. You should check to ensure your supplier is providing this information for you.

Some cleaning chemicals are incredibly dangerous and you need to make sure that you are using the chemical for it’s intended purpose. Often I see businesses that base their decision purely on price. If you are making this decision, you need to make sure you are comparing “apples with apples”. You need to check:

• The dilution factor
• What is included in the price. Good chemical companies will provide bottles, labels, training, posters etc. at no additional cost
• The size of the containers. I am aware of at least two chemical suppliers who no longer sell chemicals in the large 25 litre bottles due to OHS requirements. All of their chemicals are sold in 5 litre and 1 litre bottles.

In my travels, these are some examples of poor decision making that I have seen:

• One business changed chemical companies because the cost of the 25 litre bottle was $10 cheaper (20%), however the dilution factor of the cheaper bottle was 50ml per 10 litres of water, instead of 10ml per 10 litres. So they save 20%, but needed to use 500% more!!
• One business purchased a sanitiser that was intended for an automatic dispenser and foaming machine, but was mixing it by hand. The dilution factor was 1:440. This meant that the business need just over 2ml per litre of water. How long will it take to use a 5 litre bottle at 2ml per litre. How hard is it to measure 2ml?
• Chemicals stored in cordial bottles, tomato sauce bottles, measuring jugs, water bottles, stainless steel bowls, takeaway containers, Milo tins and food storage containers.
• Chemicals (in a warehouse) stored in direct contact with bags of flour
• Chemicals (in a hospital) stored in the pantries with biscuits, tea bags etc.
• Chemicals (in a fresh chicken shop in a market) stored in the cool room (as they didn’t have room in processing area
• A dishwasher that was not connected to chemicals at all
• A meat slicer being “sanitised” with a caustic soda based window cleaner (even though they were clearly labelled and colour coded)
• A disinfectant (that should be used in toilets) being used as a sanitiser on a production bench used for making mass amounts of sandwiches.

So how about you? What chemical catastrophes have you seen? Do you have any safe tips for the use of cleaning chemicals in food businesses?

What ever you, make sure that you…

Eat well. Eat safe!

Gavin