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Must Have Items to Keeping Your Food Service Business Clean and Sanitized
It’s no secret that the impact COVID-19 has had on restaurants has been especially costly. So as the time comes for restaurant dining to return, the actions you take will be critical in helping keep your dining rooms open and your customers coming back. Read more for tips for cleaning and sanitizing your food service operation.
Restaurant owners have a lot to do to prepare for the new normal as customers will expect a higher level of cleanliness. Major brands have encountered suspected novel coronavirus cases among staff, from the Panera Bread in Council Bluffs, Iowa, to the Starbucks Reserve unit in downtown Seattle, Wash.
After a worker at an Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar underwent a coronavirus test, which was eventually determined to be negative, the franchisee owner closed the restaurant and re-opened it only after a thorough deep cleaning process.
This is the time, more than ever, to learn how to keep your restaurant clean and safe. Cleaning, disinfecting, and sanitizing areas of your restaurant are essential tasks but are different from each other.
5 methods to keep your food service business clean and sanitary
- Hand washing — this is the best way to prevent both your staff and guests from getting sick.
- Cleaning surfaces — while it’s true that cleaning alone does not kill pathogens, it is the most important part of keeping good hygiene in your store because it impairs the environment where those pathogens would thrive by removing surface soils.
- Sanitizing food contact surfaces — reduces the number of germs on surfaces or objects to a safe level, as judged by public health standards or requirements. It is not as effective as a disinfectant. Sanitizing kills 99.9% of germs (bacteria) and is accepted as food safe by the public health department.
- Disinfecting touchpoints —killing pathogens on surfaces or objects without cleaning dirty surfaces. It kills germs on surfaces after cleaning, it can further lower the risk of spreading infection. Disinfecting kills 99.9999 of all germs (bacterial & virus).
- Food Safe – chemicals labeled as safe to use in food preparation areas
Below is a reference for effective items that can help keep your restaurant clean and safe for re-opening.
Dining Room – Tables & Stations
- Green & Red Cleaning Buckets in 3 & 6 qt sizes
- Spray Bottles with color-coded sprayers
- Microfiber Kitchen Towels
- Cleaning Sponges
Kitchen – Buffet Line – Salad Bar
- HAACP Color Coded Cutting Board Brushes
- Sponge Scrub Pad
- Herringbone Bar Towel
- Utility Pails in 10 & 14 qt sizes
- Equipment Brushes
Bar – Beverage Station
- Glass Washer Brushes
- Beer Mug Washer
- Coffee Decanter Brush
- Glass Polishing Towel
- White Bar Towel
Floors
- Yellow Mop Bucket/Wringer Combo
- Red Mop Bucket/Wringer Combo > Restrooms
- Wet Mop in microfiber or blended loop-end/banded and cut-end sizes
- Wet Floor Signs
- Dust Mops
- Angle Broom
- Dust Pans
- Deck Brooms – 10” Scrub Brush or 12” Multi Angle Scrub Brush
Restroom
- BlGlovesack Latex
- Toilet Brush
- Plunger
- Sanitary Seat Cover & Dispenser
- Soap Dispenser / Sanitizer Dispenser
- Square Container with ‘no touch’ lid
General Purpose – Storage Room
- Wipes Dispenser
- Glove Dispenser – regular & large box
- Brick Pack Mop Dispenser
- Mop & Broom Rack
Also, before opening the doors for diners again, it’s a good idea to clean, sanitize, disinfect, and ensure food safety of the entire operation before welcoming all your guests back in for business.
Assign people to these tasks and have a regular schedule that can be easily followed.
Your customers will feel safer and appreciate it.
