The importance of prioritising good hygiene practices in kitchens of all types from the smallest pub to the largest commercial type serving hundreds of people.

Cleanliness Is Crucial And Requires Knowledge And Thoroughness

It’s a stark truth that in any catering environment ranging from the smallest takeaway to the largest commercial kitchen preparing hundreds of meals a day, a good reputation can be ruined in a moment if a bout of food poisoning or a pest infestation strikes. The repercussions can be serious and even result in closure, so scrupulous standards of hygiene at all times is vital.

Obligations

In a commercial setting its law to adhere to certain standards of hygiene both in terms of procedures and people. The Food Standards Agency has plenty of information on food preparation methods covering hygiene requirements and the procedures to follow so as to achieve required standards of food safety and hygiene.

They also provide specific guides depending on the type of food preparation an organisation is engaged in – such as sandwich bars or those producing chilled foods, for example.

Training

It’s important that staff are fully trained in the procedures to follow in their everyday work such as cleanliness routines and how to spot and prevent possible food safety and hygiene issues.

You may have an in-house training regime to help train new recruits and retrain existing personnel, or you may engage a third party training company.

Specialist cleaning

Commercial kitchens require specialist cleaning on a regular basis to continue to maintain high standards of hygiene, so you may have specially trained cleaners in place to do this or you may engage the services of food production cleaning companies on an outsourcing basis.

The latter is an ideal course of action as they will be, at all times, totally conversant with the latest cleaning and hygiene procedures and should be able to dovetail their service according to your specific requirements. For example, a commercial kitchen should be deep cleaned by law every six months; your cleaning contractors would be aware of this and other legislation pertaining to specific kitchen and food preparation and storage area cleaning.

Range of cleaning and hygiene considerations

There’s a lot to consider when it comes to maintaining high standards of hygiene:

• Overall ‘building fabric’ cleaning – ensuring walls, floors, windows, wall and floor junctions and door frames are cleaned including higher up areas such as lighting and ceilings
• Equipment – not just cleaned but frequently dismantled before being deep cleaned and re-assembled
• Drains – not just unblocking, but also drain jetting and preventing blocks in the first place
• Ventilation – ensuring ducting and equipment is clean and not blowing dust and debris around in food preparation and storage areas. Some buildings insurance providers will insist extractor systems are cleaned and de-greased regularly
• Grease traps – ensuring these are regularly cleaned
• Extraction units – regular degreasing to enhance hygiene and prevent possible fires
• Bulk foodstuff storage areas – these require cleaning and inspecting regularly against spillages and, especially as some areas may be ‘out of the way’ and dimly lit, checking against pest presence

Pest prevention

Pests of all shapes and sizes from the tiniest fly to the largest rat can be a threat and obviously need removing as soon as there’s any evidence of their presence. Your contract kitchen cleaning company will likely be able to provide pest prevention and maybe removal – if not, a reputable pest control specialist will be required.

Don’t take chances

As said earlier, one problem such as a bout of food poisoning can spell disaster for a food preparation facility so don’t cut corners with food hygiene. Along with stiff penalties, there’s the very real threat of closure not to mention a damaged reputation that may prove very difficult to repair.