Without stating the obvious, the Australian foodservice industry is on their knees at the moment.
The food outlets that are still open are having to dramatically change and adapt the way they run their business in order to survive.
The foodservice industry is no stranger to safety precautions. Activities like handwashing, taking food temperature, and cleansing surfaces are the core components of a foodservice employee’s routine. But in times of uncertainty like an infectious outbreak, these practices will become more important than ever.
Key Focus Areas For Food Businesses
1. Handwashing
Handwashing is the simplest but most effective way to fend off viruses. Businesses should consider increasing handwashing checks to take place several times per hour (even if employees wear gloves while working), and be sure to have a system in place that guarantees employees will adhere. Take extra care for employees who are working the register and drive-thrus, as health officials have expressed concern that exchanging cash and coming in close contact with others can increase the risk of spread.
2. Sanitisation Of Surfaces
Ensure that all surfaces and high-traffic areas remain sanitary. Wipe down countertops, tables, and chairs (even if dine-in service has been suspended), doorknobs (including main entrances if you are offering in-store pickup), railings, and drink dispensers. If your customers are entering the store to pick up orders, ensure that the counters where they grab straws, utensils, napkins, etc are constantly disinfected. In fact, most stores have done away with any area where customers could self-serve, to remove the risk completely.
3. Online Delivery
Businesses are focusing more on online delivery to ensure revenue still comes through the door to keep staff employed and the business open. With this added focus on delivery, it’s critical, more than ever, that business has a system to ensure food is safe. Current food safety systems need to be followed more than ever to accommodate the ‘new world’ the foodservice industry lives in. Ensuring food is kept at the right temperature, the packaging is sealed correctly so drivers don’t contaminate food by helping themselves, contactless delivery (where drivers leave food at the front door rather than hand directly to customers), cashless deliveries (card only) so drivers don’t handle cash etc.
4. Remote Monitoring & Management
An advantage of digital food safety for owners and operators is the ability to check-in and manage all locations remotely, especially as social distancing becomes more important during the emergency. With a digital food safety system like Squizify, owners are able to stay on top of each location and make any necessary spur-of-the-moment decisions backed by data from their actual stores.
As per medical advice, COVID19 can last on the packaging for up to 48 hours. So, it’s more important than ever, especially for customers that are doing the right thing and social distancing at home, that food businesses don’t unknowingly bring this horrible virus to them via food delivery. The foodservice industry has entered the toughest market conditions in living memory. At these times cutting corners can easily happen, however with a fast-spreading infectious disease like COVID19 food safety is one area foodservice businesses need to spend extra attention, ensuring standards are kept extremely high.
The current situation is likely to change, and it can feel overwhelming to keep up with all of the updates and news.
Our Advice is Simple, Foodservice Businesses Need To…
Clearly understand what their food safety systems are and make any necessary changes to ensure staff & customers are protected.
Ensure all staff are fully trained and aware of any changes to the current processes.
Ensure their delivery channels are doing the right things in relation to staff & customer protection.
The foodservice industry is well-positioned to flourish when we come out of this pandemic, however, if businesses don’t do the right thing now and their brand/restaurant is tarnished by a poor food safety event, even when things get back to normal the long-term damage to these brands will be enormous.
As long as your restaurant is open for business during these times, staff should be supported with the knowledge and assistance they need to keep the environment safe and healthy.
If you have any questions around how Squizify can help through these tough times, please contact us at hello@squizify.com
Daniel
Squizify CEO
In case you haven’t heard, Woolworths and Coles stores from Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania and South Australia had been selling eggs infected with salmonella. 9News reported Bridgewater Poultry, a Victorian poultry farm, had been distributing these eggs and is under investigation.
Salmonella infection is a common bacterial disease that affects the intestinal tract. It is commonly associated with food poisoning and the sickness can last 24-72 hours. Usually risk of salmonella is significantly lower when eggs are cooked. Raw eggs should definitely not be consumed as the risk of salmonella is greatly increased.
Egg Product Recalls
- Woolworths 12 Cage Free Eggs 700g
- Victorian Fresh Barn Laid Eggs 600g
- Victorian Fresh Barn Laid Eggs 700g
- Victorian Fresh Barn Laid Eggs 800g
- Loddon Valley Barn Laid 600g
- Affected eggs have best-before dates of March 20, March 23, March 27, March 30, April 3, April 6, April 10, April 14, April 17, April 20, April 24, April 27, April 29
(Loddon Valley Eggs, 2019).
What Is Being Done Now?
Due to the seriousness of this case, many egg farms are having to cull their chickens to ensure the spread of salmonella is stopped. Coles and Woolworths are also urging anyone who has any of the recalled products to return them as soon as possible and not feed them to people or animals.
What Should Store Owners Do?
If you are a store owner, it is safe to purchase eggs now. The threat has been removed but it is now more important than ever to be following correct hygiene procedures. Do not keep any cracked or dirty eggs. For the storage of your current eggs make sure they’re being refrigerated at 4°C or colder at all times. To ensure your eggs are always being stored at a safe temperature, make sure all of your temperature monitoring systems are in working condition. SQUIZIFY can provide your store with this technology, which comes with live sync reports at any moment from anywhere.
Get in touch with us if you would like to know how we can save your eggs and ultimately your business.
- Benjamin Ansell. (2019, March 21). Possible Salmonella Contamination of Eggs. 9News.
- Loddon Valley Eggs. (2019). MEDIA STATEMENT: PRODUCT RECALL.
Whether you are opening your first independent restaurant, or you are in charge of a number of franchise stores there are many important factors to consider before opening your doors. Business owners tend to be so focused on hiring staff and designing menus that food safety is overlooked or left as an afterthought. Unfortunately not putting thought and effort into food safety processes could easily be the downfall of your business. Here are some quick easy tips to make sure your restaurant is meeting Australia’s food safety standards.
1. Engage All Staff In Proper Food Safety Practices
When it comes to training staff on food safety it is not enough to hand them a heavy pile of rules and ask them to read them over in their own time. If you want your staff to properly perform food safety practices they need to be engaged and truly understand what food safety means to the business and the danger bad food safety poses to customers. After all, proper food safety can save lives. There are plenty of creative strategies to familiarise your staff with safe food practices in ways that won’t feel tedious and overwhelming. Squizify’s CEO and food safety expert Daniel McDouall says “You are only as good as your weakest link so you want every staff member to be across the basics and every staff member to be an advocate in terms of safety.”
2. Train A Food Safety Supervisor
Across Australia, it is a legal requirement to have a Food Safety Supervisor on the payroll. This is a nationally accredited qualification. According to Daniel, having a good food safety officer is about more than just ticking a box. He says “Having advocates from the business that really care about food safety and are continually checking and following up on general safety and making sure staff are aware of procedures and rules is extremely beneficial for your business.” Nominating a Food Safety Supervisor is also a good way to reward a hardworking staff member by giving them extra responsibility and therefore demonstrating trust.
3. Keep Up To Date With All The Rules And Regulations
Rules and regulations relating to food safety are constantly changing and evolving. As a business owner, it is imperative that you stay up to date with the rules. This can be overwhelming, confusing and time-consuming. Luckily the Squizify platform is up to date with all the current food safety requirements so just by using this platform you know you are covering your bases.
4. Invest In Squizify
If you own a business the sells food you are going to spend a lot of money on staff training. This is just how the industry operates. If you are paying for it, it may as well be worth it. Daniel says, “If it’s not the right training, and doesn’t resonate with the staff members they’ll switch off.” When it comes to ensuring your business is following food safety practices, Squizify is a real game changer. This technology takes a lot of the manual labour out of food safety making it easier for you to focus on the fun part of running a food business. Daniel says “Let us do the heavy lifting, we’ll focus on health and safety while you look after the customers and running your business.”
If you want to make sure your food safety practices are always up to scratch make an enquiry about installing Squizify via our website today.
A food safety crisis is every food business’s worst nightmare. This doesn’t just happen small family businesses and cheap takeaway stores, a food safety crisis can happen to national and global businesses as well. If you are a business owner who has found themselves in the mists of a food safety crisis this article can provide some advice on how it can be managed and what you can do to prevent this from happening again in the future.
What Are The Common Food Safety Crisises Businesses Face?
A food safety crisis doesn’t necessarily mean a massive outbreak of foodborne illness where hundreds of people end up in hospital. While this does happen, it is the very worst case scenario. Some more common cases of food safety crisises are caused by undeclared allergens, contaminated foods which can lead to listeria infection or regulation infringements.
How Does A Business Go About Addressing The Issue In a way that will limit the damage?
1. Remove The Danger
No matter what has caused the food safety crisis your first call of duty is to remove the danger. This might be contaminated food, pest infestations, or incompetent staff.
2. Solidify Your Message
Once the danger is removed you need to consider your messaging. It is important to focus on making sure it is clear and consistent. The tone and wording will depend on the specifics of the situation. Be honest, authentic and apologetic when addressing the issue but also be firm about what changes will be made to address the problem going forward. The goal is to be as transparent as possible in order to regain the public trust.
3. Work With The Media To Spread Your Message
Nothing scares customers away like whispers of food safety infringements. If word has got out about a food safety infringement in your business you need to address the issue head on. Saying ‘no comment’ or ignoring the problem will only make things worse. Provide quotes to media outlets and use your internet platforms to explain the situation from your point of view.
4. Communicate With Customers Online
Facebook and Google reviews can be extremely helpful when positive but catastrophic when negative. If you are experiencing backlash online, it is important to stay calm. Do not ignore these comments but respond accordingly. Apologise directly and assure your customers of the improvements you are making. If it is possible, use these channels to demonstrate evidence of food safety compliance.
How Can Businesses Prevent This Problem From Happening Again In The Future?
If your business makes it through a food safety crisis you are one of the lucky ones. Don’t take this second chance for granted. It’s time to take food safety seriously. Squizify is your one-stop shop to taking care of all food safety areas of your business. Let’s be honest, if you had Squizify this wouldn’t have happened in the first place. Let us help you with food safety so you can focus on getting the rest of the business back on its feet.
