Keeping your restaurant health department compliant is about a lot more than just following the rules. Restaurant food safety guidelines and regulations are designed to protect public health. Your customers must be able to trust that you are doing your part.
“This trust is vital to the relationship between restaurant and diner,” says Back of House operations expert Dan Durkin. “Your customers expect that you are doing everything by the book to prevent things like cross-contamination, foodborne illness, and spoilage. When it really comes down to it, your restaurant’s reputation depends on health department compliance.”
But how can you ensure that your staff members are doing everything they should be? What systems must be in place to maintain restaurant health code compliance? We sat down for a quick Q&A with Dan to answer these questions and more.
Read on to find out how your restaurant can stay restaurant health department compliant.
Before we get to our chat with Dan, let’s take a quick look at exactly where restaurant food safety guidelines come from and why they are so important.
Every restaurant is required to follow certain safety regulations. (Bear in mind that if you run a catering operation, a food truck, or a stall in a food hall, there may be other specific local rules for your business.)
But the main takeaway here is that if you sell food, you have to comply with rules set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This includes federal standards for the safe transport, storage, and handling of food.
In addition, each state also has its own rules, especially about certification. Many states have certification requirements for areas like food handling, food allergies, and hand hygiene. This means that certain restaurant workers must be trained and certified in these areas in order for your restaurant to remain compliant with your state’s health department food safety rules.
Visit the National Registry’s Guide to State Regulations to be sure your restaurant’s training and procedures include all the certification requirements for your state. Likewise, consult your municipality for any rules and regulations specific to your city or town.
First and foremost, foodborne illness is a very real public safety issue. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) conducted a review of foodborne illness in 2019 and found that six specific pathogens affected more than 9.9 million Americans annually. The report also found that seven leading pathogens caused an estimated 53,000 hospitalizations and 931 deaths that year. These numbers underscore just how serious our responsibilities are as food service professionals.
Of course, transmitting foodborne illness is the worst case scenario, but there are plenty of other risks associated with restaurant health code compliance failure. Restaurant health code violations can lead to costly fines, temporary closure, and the loss of certain food safety certifications and licenses.
These costs are usually compounded once word spreads to the public that your restaurant is facing fines, temporary closure, or increased scrutiny for falling short of health code standards. Your reputation, your brand image, and your foot traffic will all suffer.
For some restaurants, any combination of these consequences could even be devastating for business. It can be difficult to reestablish trust with your customers and the broader public after a major food safety incident.
Naturally, the best thing you can do for your business is take preemptive steps to keep your restaurant health department compliant at all times. BOH expert Dan shares his insight on exactly how your restaurant can do this.
Dan: Temperature is definitely one of the biggest issues. Your freezers and refrigerators have to be cold enough. Your ovens and dishwashers have to be hot enough. Improper storage temperature and prep temperature are the most common causes of foodborne illness, so make sure you’re following the FDA’s temperature guidelines everywhere in your kitchen.
In addition to the temperature you’re storing your food at, how you’re storing it is just as important. Keeping raw meat separate from raw veggies and cooked meat, making sure everything is covered properly and labelled, and that everything is more than six inches off the ground — these are things that your inspector is going to be looking at.
The easiest thing for inspectors to note is your hand sinks and sanitizer buckets. Are they clean? Are they close to prep and cooking areas? Is there soap in the dispenser? Are hand towels easily accessible? If not, you can expect your health inspector to call you on it.
Dan: I think one thing that happens especially in smaller restaurants is that training is kind of an afterthought. It’s very common in small, busy restaurants with modestly sized teams to just throw new employees right into the fire. And I get it. Nobody has the extra time.
The misunderstanding is that you’re saving time by training on the fly — but that’s where mistakes are made. And those mistakes can cost you time, money, or much worse. Take 10 to 15 minutes with new hires to show them how you expect them to store food, take and log temps, keep their areas clean, where the sanitizer buckets are, etc.
Dan: I think all restaurants need to take it upon themselves to act like every day, there’s going to be a surprise health code inspection…because one day, it very well could be. So that means going through a restaurant health inspection checklist every single day.
Display checklists clearly at different stations — at prep and handwashing stations, in food storage and refrigeration areas, and even in restrooms. A lot of digital training apps also include checklists that you can use to help with daily, weekly, and monthly tasks like equipment inspection and cleaning.
Dan: Education is critical. Every member of your staff should understand exactly what’s at stake when it comes to food safety. It’s not just about restaurant health code compliance. It’s about the responsibility we have to keep our customers safe and healthy.
This needs to be the emphasis during training, during daily procedures, and in the examples we set as leaders in the kitchen. That means nobody cuts corners.
Dan: Training is everything. And I’m referring to both onboarding and ongoing education, because the truth is that restaurant food safety guidelines can change. It’s important to stay up to date on procedures, which means there should be an element of ongoing training in your restaurant. Again, some of the digital training apps are great at keeping you current on any changes or rule updates, even those specific to your state or municipality.
The main point is that your staff needs to be aware of the rules for compliance and team members must be given the knowledge and skills to follow through on these rules.
Dan: There are a few things here.
Again, education is first. Make sure your staff understands what cross-contamination means and that both back and front of house team members are educated on all the common allergens, like nuts, wheat, dairy, and pepper. This is so important. A mistake like this could send a diner to the hospital.
Beyond the basic education, it comes down to two things. Reinforce proper, routine, and thorough sanitization of all cooking, prep and storage spaces. And label all food containers clearly and accurately. While we’re on the subject, it’s also extremely important to put proper dates on these labels to avoid spoilage.
Dan: Chaos. I think most chefs and kitchen managers understand the importance of hygiene, sanitation, and cleanliness. But in kitchens where there’s disorder, yelling, or confusion — where people are rushing to get things done, that’s when people take shortcuts and that’s when mistakes are made.
So in a lot of ways, even beyond having proper procedures and training for food safety, you want to take steps to create a smooth workflow, to facilitate clear communication, and to promote an orderly kitchen environment.
Dan: Technology can go a long way to help create order in your kitchen. I would check out some scheduling and task management tools like 7shifts, Push Operations, or PreciTaste. These can help streamline your kitchen operations, which can ultimately create a much less chaotic working environment.
Platforms like Foodini can help you identify and manage customer allergies and dietary restrictions. This is a great one for preventing cross-contamination.
And of course, as I’ve mentioned, training is essential. Full disclosure — we are partnered with a company called Trust20 that offers excellent digital food safety training solutions through a combination of live courses, online training modules, and certification tests. This is a really effective tool for keeping your team up to date on current food safety regulations.
Dan: First, conduct a full audit of your restaurant’s spaces, equipment, practices, and procedures. Use the restaurant food safety guidelines from your state and local health departments to identify areas in need of improvement such as aging equipment, pest issues, or unclear handwashing guidelines. You can consult our guide for how to address each of these issues and more.
Second, implement a real, formal food safety training program. Make this program a standard part of your onboarding process and your continuing education strategy. Take advantage of digital training tools to ensure that your training strategies remain current and that all pertinent information is always available as a point of reference for your staff.
Third, implement a restaurant health inspection checklist that includes daily, weekly, and monthly goals and responsibilities. It can also help to delegate oversight of these food safety tasks and responsibilities to shift managers and other kitchen leaders to promote accountability.
Not sure where to start on auditing your restaurant or implementing helpful food safety practices and procedures? Dan is here and happy to talk you through your options. Reach out for your free, personalized consultation and we’ll work together to figure out what makes the most sense for your business.