Introduction
If you’re in the catering or restaurant business, you probably know that providing high-quality food is essential. If a customer gets sick from eating your food, they won’t come back and they’ll tell their friends and family not to visit your establishment.
Food hygiene and safety training is essential for any business selling food or drink to the public. Your kitchen, cooking areas and food storage must be clean and the appropriate measure taken to make sure that food is cooked safely and correctly.
Food borne sickness is very common but preventable. Viruses, parasites and bacteria in food can cause food poisoning, leading to those who contract it to become very unwell. It is imperative that high food hygiene and safety standards are in place and followed to prevent these illnesses.
In this blog post we are going to outline the main reasons why food hygiene training is imperative for any business that serves food to the public.
Cleanliness Is Essential
Cleanliness is essential for good food hygiene. It’s important that you clean all surfaces and equipment on a regular basis. You must also ensure that your hands are properly washed before you handle food, after handling food and before leaving the kitchen. This can be done using warm water mixed with soap, or an antiseptic hand wash if available.
Safety Is A Priority
If you work in a restaurant or kitchen, food safety training is not just an option; it’s a necessity. You need to know how to handle food safely in order to prevent the spread of disease and contamination throughout your establishment. Food hygiene training will teach you what types of things can contaminate your product, and how best to prevent them from happening.
Food hygiene training should take place before anyone begins working in any capacity that puts them near raw ingredients or prepared dishes. This includes chefs, waiters, waitresses, kitchen staff, bar staff and managers.
To Prevent Contamination
Food hygiene training is important to prevent food contamination. Food hygiene, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), is the practice of keeping food safe for consumption by humans and animals by using safe handling and preparation techniques.
Food safety can be compromised in many ways, for example:
- • Inadequate personal hygiene of staff members who handle food
- • Not washing hands before handling ready-to-eat foods like salads or sandwiches
- • Cross-contamination between raw meat products (poultry) and ready-to-eat foods
- • An employee failing to follow guidelines on storage times
To Follow The Law
The law is there to protect the consumer and the business. The law is also there to protect the environment, staff and food handlers themselves. If you’re not trained in food hygiene then you could potentially cause harm to anyone who consumes your food or drinks.
The Food Hygiene Regulations 2013 are designed to help prevent foodborne illness by ensuring that all food businesses:
- • Keep records of their cleaning and disinfection procedures
- • Take suitable measures against pests
- • Keep all utensils clean
Your Business Will Be More Successful If You Provide Food That Is Safe And Up To Date With Safety Standards.
Food safety is important for:
- • The health of your customers
- • Your businesses reputation.
- • Your business finances.
- • You business growth
- • The sustainability of your company
You must ensure that the food you serve to customers is safe to eat. Not just because it’s the right thing to do, but also in order to avoid serious financial consequences down the line. Poor hygiene can result in fines as well as damage your brand image and reputation with customers who might choose not to come back again after experiencing an illness.
Conclusion
Whether you’re a restaurant owner, food truck operator or just someone who likes to cook at home, food hygiene training is essential. It’s not only about ensuring that your customers get the best possible experience from eating what you have prepared for them; it’s also about making sure they don’t get sick from something they ate from your business.
At TL Training we run regular food hygiene and safety training courses in Liverpool, Wirral and Chester. We offer the following courses:
- Level 1 – Introduction to food safety
- Level 1 – Foundation certificate in food safety
- Level 3 – Intermediate certificate in food safety
Call us today on 0151 343 0588 to learn more. Alternatively, you can email us at [email protected] and a member of our team will get back to you as soon as possible.
