14 May Commercial Kitchens – How to Achieve a 5 Star Rating
Keeping a clean kitchen can be a demanding job. There’s a lot to keep an eye on and no excuses when it comes down to the bottom line. We’ve put together a quick list of some of the top things that inspectors look for, but at the end of the day it’s easier and more effective to trust the professionals to keep your kitchen spotless. A managed approach to Pest Control – Having a professional pest control contract in place is critical for ensuring that your venue is free from pest such as rodents, insects, birds etc. These pests are a potential microbiological and physical hazard.
Well-maintained Food Storage Systems
Raw foods must never be stored next to ready to eat foods. Your food storage system must ensure that raw foods and ready to eat foods are kept completely separated across the premises to keep the risk of cross contamination to a minimum. Storing food on racks instead of on the floor will help achieve a five-star rating.
Prevention of Cross Contamination in food preparation
Ensure cross contamination does not occur during the preparation process. It is ideal to have separate sinks for raw foods and ready to eat foods and another sink for dishes. Sinks must be fully sanitised after use. A plan to keep raw and ready to eat food preparation separate, with all areas, surfaces and utensils sanitised between use.
Personal Hygiene and Staff training
Staff training to ensure that they are aware of what is expected of them and why. Staff must know the importance of clean and protective clothing, hair should be kept back, no jewellery etc. Staff should also know health and safety policies and procedures and ensure they understand safe systems of work.
Record Keeping and Management of Documents
Records of all the above activities must be kept up to date. Daily check sheets for fridge/ freezer temperatures, food temperatures, cleaning and risk assessments maintained. A food safety policy must be documented. Staff training documents to be up to date. Any discrepancies in your documentation will bring policies and procedures into question.
Food Safety Supervisor
Food Safety Supervisors must remain vigilant. They must be able to recognise, prevent and eliminate any food safety hazards and maintain all records such as policies and procedures and keep on track with staff training.
No complaints within previous and current license period
You must not have any justified complaints within the previous and current license period.
Section A & Section B of Food Act Compliant
You must not have any critical, major or minor food safety risks identified in Section A of the food safety audit. You must achieve 14 points of more in ‘Good Management Practices’ in Section B and the previous food safety inspection has no outstanding requirements.
All equipment maintained
All equipment that is used for food preparation must be well maintained, installed correctly and kept clean. Regular checks of performance of equipment, regularly serviced and tag and tested, particularly the refrigerators and freezers units ensuring they remain at a desired temperature for food safety.
Cleaning Chemical MSDS
You must ensure you have an onsite folder that contains up to date MSDS sheets for all cleaning chemicals kept onsite and ensure they are stored correctly.
Venue Cleanliness
Most importantly the premises must be cleaned thoroughly and regularly. Including the areas which cannot be seen such as under and behind equipment, sides of equipment and walls and floors and floors under equipment. A regular scheduled deep kitchen clean can help maintain the cleanliness of the kitchen to ensure there is no build up of grime on any surfaces and all surfaces and equipment are well sanitized.
Need a hand?
We’ve been cleaning and maintaining the hygiene standards of commercial kitchens for decades. We know the ins and outs and all the little spots that nastiness and grime can hide. Get in touch with us for a hassle-free quote. We’ll let you know what you need and what it will cost you.