Running a restaurant is demanding. Between managing employees, serving customers, ordering inventory, and keeping up with daily operations, food safety can sometimes become an afterthought.

But small food safety mistakes can quickly become serious problems. Poor food handling can lead to foodborne illness, failed health inspections, customer complaints, and damage to your restaurant's reputation.

At Westchester Food Safety, we work with food establishments to help owners, managers, and employees understand proper food safety practices and stay prepared for health department inspections.

Here are 10 of the most common food safety mistakes restaurants make — and how to avoid them.

1. Not Washing Hands Properly

One of the simplest and most important food safety practices is proper handwashing.

Employees should wash their hands thoroughly before handling food and whenever necessary during their shift. Handwashing is especially important after using the restroom, touching their face or hair, handling raw food, taking out the garbage, cleaning, or performing other tasks that can contaminate their hands.

The solution: Make proper handwashing a routine part of every employee's daily responsibilities.

2. Improper Food Temperatures

Temperature control is one of the biggest areas of concern in restaurant food safety.

Foods that require temperature control need to be kept at safe temperatures during receiving, storage, preparation, cooking, cooling, holding, and serving.

Failing to monitor temperatures can allow harmful bacteria to multiply.

The solution: Use accurate thermometers and establish a routine for checking and documenting food temperatures.

3. Cross-Contamination

Cross-contamination occurs when harmful microorganisms are transferred from one food, surface, utensil, or piece of equipment to another.

A common example is using the same cutting board or knife for raw chicken and ready-to-eat foods without properly cleaning and sanitizing it.

The solution: Separate raw and ready-to-eat foods and properly clean and sanitize food-contact surfaces and equipment.

4. Improper Cooling of Food

Large containers of soups, sauces, rice, meats, and other cooked foods can take too long to cool if they are handled incorrectly.

Food that remains in unsafe temperature ranges for too long can create an environment where bacteria multiply rapidly.

The solution: Use proper cooling methods such as shallow containers, smaller portions, ice baths, or other approved methods. Monitor the food with a thermometer rather than simply guessing when it is cool enough.

5. Poor Personal Hygiene

Employees can unintentionally contaminate food through poor personal hygiene.

Dirty clothing, uncovered hair, improper glove use, jewelry, uncovered wounds, and touching the face or hair while preparing food can all create food safety concerns.

The solution: Establish clear employee hygiene policies and make sure managers consistently enforce them.

6. Using Gloves Incorrectly

Gloves do not replace handwashing.

Employees sometimes make the mistake of putting on gloves and assuming their hands are automatically protected. Gloves can become contaminated just like hands.

Employees may also wear the same gloves while handling different foods or performing different tasks.

The solution: Wash hands before putting on gloves and change gloves whenever they become contaminated, damaged, or when switching tasks requires it.

7. Not Cleaning and Sanitizing Correctly

Cleaning and sanitizing are two different steps.

Cleaning removes food, dirt, and debris from a surface. Sanitizing reduces microorganisms to safe levels.

Restaurants sometimes clean surfaces without properly sanitizing them — or sanitize a dirty surface without cleaning it first.

The solution: Make sure employees understand the difference between cleaning and sanitizing and follow the proper procedures for each.

8. Incorrect Food Storage

How food is stored can have a major impact on food safety.

Raw foods should be stored appropriately to prevent contamination of ready-to-eat foods. Food should also be properly covered, labeled, dated, and organized.

Overloaded refrigerators can also interfere with proper air circulation and temperature control.

The solution: Maintain an organized storage system and regularly check refrigerator and freezer temperatures.

9. Ignoring Employee Illness

An employee who is sick can potentially spread illness to coworkers, food, equipment, and customers.

Restaurant managers need to understand when an employee should be restricted from certain duties or excluded from work because of illness.

The solution: Have a clear employee illness policy and make sure employees know they are expected to report relevant symptoms to management.

10. Poor Employee Training

Perhaps the biggest food safety mistake is assuming employees already know what to do.

Even experienced restaurant workers can develop bad habits. New employees may also have very different levels of food safety knowledge.

Without consistent training, employees may not understand proper temperatures, cross-contamination prevention, handwashing, allergen awareness, cleaning and sanitizing, or other important food safety requirements.

The solution: Make food safety training an ongoing part of your restaurant's operation — not something that only happens before an inspection.

Food Safety Starts With Training

A clean restaurant is important, but food safety goes beyond appearances.

Your employees need to understand why food safety procedures matter and how to correctly apply them during a busy shift.

At Westchester Food Safety, we provide food safety training designed to help restaurants, food establishments, managers, and employees improve their food safety practices.

We offer:

• ServSafe Food Protection Manager training and certification

• Food Handler training

• On-site food safety training

• Customized employee training

• Food safety assistance for new and existing food establishments

• Training designed around your operation's specific needs

  
  

Our on-site training can be especially helpful for restaurants that need a food safety tune-up, are opening a new establishment, are experiencing recurring food safety issues, or want to make sure their staff is properly trained.

Don't Wait for a Health Department Inspection

The best time to identify food safety problems is before they become violations.

Take a look at your restaurant today. Are employees checking food temperatures? Are raw foods stored correctly? Are employees washing their hands properly? Are your cleaning and sanitizing procedures being followed?

Small improvements can make a big difference.

Westchester Food Safety is here to help you train your team, improve your food safety practices, and build a stronger food safety culture.

Contact Westchester Food Safety today to learn more about ServSafe certification, food handler training, and on-site food safety training.

https://www.westchesterfoodsafety.com/