Foodservice Sanitation

Summary

Food is a source for microorganisms that cause food spoilage and illness. Increased handling of food is responsible for a more complicated and critical challenge of protecting food from contamination. To improve sanitation in foodservice establishments, the facility and equipment should be designed for cleanability. Choosing equipment with sanitary features has been simplified by a number of equipment standards provided by organizations and manufacturers.

Food should be safeguarded through sanitary practices in the receiving, storage, preparation, and serving areas. It should be handled with equipment and utensils and in a physical facility that has been thoroughly cleaned and sanitized. If properly operated and maintained, mechanized cleaning by means such as a dishwasher can effectively remove contamination from utensils and equipment. To manage the sanitation operation of a foodservice facility properly, a cleaning and sanitizing program should be written, supervised, and evaluated, with subsequent documentation of results.