Design Your Kitchen With Modern Ideas: Maintenance & Sanitation Of The Food Premises

Maintenance and sanitation is also major steps within operations of the food premises. Maintenance is engineering part of your food premises. So, we will discuss that soon after in genuinely. Sanitation is another subject area regarding your final product quality. It is also major task in food premises. There are compulsory requirements to setup within your premises. Top management of your premises like the brain to lead all others. Quality Assurance department is like the heart of your system. It should be required set of laboratories to achieve future targets and maintain your process's quality assurance standards. While your drafting that kind of important tasks should be considered. Sanitation process must be controlled by together with engineering and quality assurance department.

Premises & Physical Maintenance

Food premises, their fixtures, fittings, equipment and utensils should be maintained to an acceptable standard of cleanliness, and in a good state of repair and working order having regard to their use. There should be effective systems in place to ensure adequate and appropriate maintenance, cleaning and sanitizing of their facilities and equipment, control pests, remove waste and monitor and record the effectiveness of maintenance and sanitizing procedures.

The walls, floors, doors, artificial ceilings, woodwork and all other parts should be kept clean, free of visible impossible matters or unpleasant odours, especially that there should be no accumulation of reject, food waste or recycled matters except in proper containers, dirt, grease and other visible matters that may unfavorably affect the standard of cleanliness of the premises, such as mould and cobwebs. Those kept in such good order, repair and condition so that they are not broken, split, chipped or worn out, etc. as to enable them to be effectively cleaned and prevent, so far as reasonably practicable, the risk of infestation by pests and entry of birds.

Doors especially their handles, knobs or plates that may come into contact with food handlers' hands, windows, window frames, and window shelves and other surrounds to openings in walls and ceilings should be effectively cleaned. They should also be maintained in such a condition that they will not allow pest infestation. Pest controlling process is important.

Closest Surroundings, such as Streets, lanes and other public places or the common part of a building, which are within 6 m of the food premises, should be kept clean and free of litter or waste.

Food contact surfaces of equipment and utensils, such as crockery, dishes and tableware, should be maintained in a good condition of repair and working condition. They should be smooth, free of cracks and crevices, and be kept clean and free from harmful matters by standard cleaning and sanitizing at a frequency that prevents accumulation of grease deposits, dirt and other residues, having regard to their use. A food contact surface should be cleaned and sanitized between each use for raw food and ready to eat food. If an equipment or utensil is used continuously at room temperature for handling potentially hazardous foods such as meat slicers, it should be cleaned and sanitized at least once every 4 hours. Food contact surfaces of equipment and utensils should be maintained in a clean and sanitary condition to prevent contamination of food. Special care should be taken to clean and sanitize the equipment and utensils that have been used for handling raw food before being used again for handling ready to eat food to avoid cross contamination.

Cutting surfaces such as chopping blocks and cutting boards which are subject to scraping and making should be resurfaced if they become too difficult to be effectively cleaned and sanitized, and should be discarded if resurfacing is impossible.

Any part of a thermometer, especially the temperature probe, that will be inserted into the food for temperature measurement is a food contact surface, which should be cleaned and sanitized between uses, particularly between each use for measuring the temperature of raw food and ready to eat food.

Chipped or cracked eating or drinking utensils cause food safety risk because such defects can harbor dirt and bacteria, and spoil the surfaces' ability to be effectively cleaned and sanitized, by this means allowing the spread of infectious diseases. Besides, they may contaminate food directly if broken or chipped pieces fall into the food, and the exposed sharp edges can easily cause injuries to customers.

All parts of the premises, fixtures, fittings and equipment should be maintained at all times in a state of good repair and working condition to prevent contamination of food by plaster, paint, broken glass or leaking pipes, etc., enable effective cleaning and, if necessary, sanitizing, ensure pests cannot gain access to the premises from hollow spaces in ceilings, walls, etc. and ensure that the equipment works as planned.

Kitchens and Food Rooms' Floors should be free from buildup of food waste, dirt, grease or other visible intolerable matters. They should be washed with detergents at least once daily. Hot water or steam may be used for better removal of grease. Covings between floor and wall junctions should be kept clean, in good repair and be attached tightly to their positions. Floor surfaces should be maintained in good condition, free of cracks, crevices or other defects. There should be no dips or hollows. Wall materials such as tiles or stainless steel should be tightly attached to the surfaces. Walls of food rooms and kitchens should be cleaned frequently, about once daily or more if necessary. Wall surfaces or ceilings should be clear of unnecessary fittings or decorations such as posters or pictures as far as possible.

Any furniture or equipment, which cannot be moved by one man, should not be placed too near to any wall inside kitchens or food preparation rooms as to block access to such places for cleaning. Otherwise, heavy equipment can be installed with wheels to facilitate easy removal for cleaning. Junctions between walls, and between walls and ceilings, should be tightly sealed and maintained in good condition, and free from cracks, crevices, holes or gaps or cracking materials. Any holes or gaps that may allow access of pests to wall and ceiling cavities should be sealed up.

Surfaces of ceiling should be smooth and first finished in washable paint to facilitate cleaning, although frequent cleaning is not necessary. Ceilings should be maintained in a good state of repair so that there are no spaces or joints, and be kept in a clean and sanitary condition.

Buildup of food waste, dirt and grease, etc. provides food for pests and enables microbial growth, which are favorable to food contamination. These dirt and waste may come from a variety of sources including food spills, food handlers' shoes, cloths and food packaging, etc. brought into the premises. Buildup of liquid on floors could provide a water source for pests and support their presence in the premises. It could also be a source of microbial contamination. Cracks, crevices or similar defects on walls, floors or ceilings can harbor pests or become their breeding grounds. Effective, frequent and regular cleaning, sanitizing, and maintenance of floors, walls, ceilings and equipment are then necessary for removal of food contaminants and prevention of microbial breeding.

Non food contact surfaces of equipment such as cupboards, refrigerators, wet refrigerators, racks, stoves, cooking ranges and food lifts should be kept clean and in good state of repair and working condition. Non food contact surfaces should be cleaned at a frequency that prevents accumulation of dirt and grease, preferably once a week or more as required. Cleaning has to be carried out in a systematic manner, for example, in the cycle from walls, non food contact surfaces of equipment such as cupboards, refrigerators, cooking ranges and then the floors. Systematic cleaning of non food contact surfaces can be achieved by using below steps.

Removing food debris and soil by clean wiping cloths and brushes, etc.
Rinsing with clean water
Applying detergent and washing, with brush or scourer to remove remaining debris or soil, if necessary
Rinsing with clean water and air dry.

Similar to food contact surfaces, non food contact surfaces should also be kept clean and in good repair to help minimize the possibility of food contamination.

Cleaning And Sanitizing Programme Of The Food Premises

Effective cleaning and sanitizing programme can remove food leftovers, dirt and micro organisms, therefore minimizing the risk of food contamination and food poisoning. To achieve the standard of cleanliness, a cleaning or sanitizing programme should sooner be developed to ensure that cleaning or sanitizing is conducted in a systematic and regular manner. The programme may vary according to the size of operation of food premises. A well planned cleaning or sanitizing programme should be included areas and items of equipment and utensils to be cleaned or sanitized, frequency of cleaning or sanitizing required for each item, specific standard washing or cleaning or sanitizing procedures, equipment and methods to be used, chemicals or processes to be used and the staff responsible for each task.

The design of all food premises must provide for suitable access for effective and efficient cleaning of all equipment, fittings, surfaces and areas. Cleaning and sanitizing of equipment and utensils should be done as separate processes. A surface needs to be thoroughly cleaned before it is sanitized.

Cleaning is a process for removal of contaminants such as food residues, dirt, grease and bacterial film from a surface, which is achieved by the use of water and proper detergent. Systematic cleaning can be achieved by pre scraping the utensils or surfaces and rinsing with clean water to remove most of the food residues, dirt and debris present, washing with warm water and detergent by agitation to loosen the remaining food residues and dirt, rinsing with clean water to remove the loosened food residues and dirt, and to get rid of the residues of detergent by clean water.

Detergents used for cleaning food contact surfaces should be appropriate for the task, and be able to effectively remove food residues on equipment and utensils. Agitation can be done manually with the use of cloth, scrapers, scourers or brushes or mechanically by means of mechanical dishwashers that can deliver water at such a pressure as to provide the agitation required for removing food residues and other soil from the surfaces of utensils or equipment.

Sanitizing Process Of Food Premises

After cleaning, food contact surfaces of equipment and utensils can be sanitized by being immersed in boiling water for not less than one minute inside a sterilizer or immersed in a non toxic solution containing a bactericidal agent of a type approved by the Food standards at a temperature of not less than 24^oC for at least one minute or mechanically washed in a mechanical dishwasher of a type approved by the Food standards.

Most of the bactericidal agents used in food premises are chlorine based compounds. Instructions on how to use the agents should always be followed, especially the optimal combination of the temperature, pH and concentration of the agent. If the instructions are not clear, further advice should be required from the supplier.

Drying & Storing Of Cleaned Equipments

All cleaned and sanitized equipment and utensils should be thoroughly dried by evaporation or air dry.

Cleaned and sanitized equipment should be stored in a cupboard which has been cause to be evidence against the access of dust and pests, if not for immediate use.

Utensils and equipment should be sanitized, either mechanically or manually, after cleaning to minimize the risk of food becoming contaminated with micro organisms when coming into contact with the utensils or equipment. Bactericidal agent should be applied at the proper concentration, temperature and for the appropriate length of time to achieve pleasing reduction in bacterial level, whose effectiveness is a function of the time and temperature that the utensils and equipment to be sanitized are exposed to.

Sanitized equipment and utensils should be allowed to dry as quickly as possible as most micro organisms cannot survive in the absence of water. Drying by towels or storing on a dirty surface may lead to re-contamination of cleaned and sanitized surface.

Air Filters And Filter Flag Indicators

Air filters or grilles of ventilating systems should be removable for cleaning, and be cleaned frequently to prevent accumulation of dirt and dust. Filters should be cleaned by water and detergent, or be replaced, when the filter gauge or differential pressure switch shows an increase of 50 Pascal over the designed air filter pressure drop, or when the filter flag indicator shows "dirty". Additionally, air filters should be installed in such a manner that all incoming air must pass through them before distributed within the premises. All grilles should be tightly fixed in their positions to guard against entry of rodents.

Fused Running Hour Meters

Each fused running hour meter installed for ventilating systems should be checked frequently to ensure that it is functioning properly.

Annual Inspection

Ventilating systems in food premises should be inspected at intervals not exceeding 12 months by registered specialist contractor. Air supplied to food premises should be of sufficient quality and quantity to replace contaminated air for the health of workers and customers.

Maintenance Of Refrigerators Including Chillers And Walk In Freezers

Refrigerators for storing fresh food should be kept at a temperature not exceeding 10^oC, if possible at or below 4^oC. A thermometer should be provided to each refrigerator indicating the temperature at which the food is being stored. Doors of refrigerators should be kept closed at all times except during use. Overstocking of food in refrigerators, should be avoided to ensure free circulation of cold air in the refrigerator and maintenance of food at proper temperatures. Inside surfaces of refrigerators including their border should be cleaned frequently. Over frozen refrigerators should be defrosted without delay.

Linens Or Cloths

Cloths or linens such as wiping towels, table cloths, aprons, clothing, uniforms, etc. may be used in food premises. They should be of light colour, kept clean and in a sanitary condition. Clean cloths should be free from food residues or other soiling matters. They should be washed if they become wet, sticky or soiled. Cloths required to be sterilized, such as dry wiping cloths for polishing dried utensils, should be washed and sterilized after each use either by dipping in boiling water for not less than one minute or using a bactericidal agent approved by relevant bodies. Cloths or Linens should be used for one single purpose only. ( wiping towels used for wiping food spills on table surfaces should not be used for any other purpose such as for polishing dried utensils).

Laundering those linens should be practiced according to the cleaning procedure. It will facilitate favorable conditions of linens to prevent cross contamination by food handlers for the processes of food premises. Aprons, clothing and uniforms should be clean and fit to wear. Buttons should be avoided for those who directly handle food to prevent them from coming off and falling into food. These clothing should be washed at least once a day, or when they become soiled or sticky. Storage of used cloths should be kept in suitable vessels or laundry bags away from food preparation areas to prevent contamination of food, food contact surfaces, food equipment and utensils.

Use of cloths for drying of food contact surfaces of equipment is not recommended as the cloth is likely to contain bacteria or contaminants that would be transmitted to the equipment during the drying process. Food contact surfaces should be air dried. Dry cloth may be used for polishing dried utensils.

Table cloths should be cleaned after each use as they have been in contact with food leftovers and debris.Cloths are likely to contain foreign substances such as hair, dirty particles and micro organisms, all of which would contaminate food and equipment. They should not be allowed to come into contact with food or food equipment or utensils unless systematically cleaned and sterilized. Napkins for customers may help transmit diseases from man to man, unless adequately cleaned and sterilized after each use.

I know your dream is building a food premises. That is why, I tried to give some informative articles to you with important tips & tricks. I have given those as follow;