QSR June 2023

SmartChain Food Safety

Keep It Simple When employees are stretched, how can brands ensure food safety doesn’t falter?

J obs in the restaurant industry are on a growth path to full recovery from the pandemic, but understaffing contin ues to challenge restaurants. High churn rates mean that—while more jobs have been posted in recent months—many of them are still going unfilled from month to month. Earlier this year, the National Restaurant Association estimated the industry still has a labor shortfall of at least 540,000 employees. Restaurants remain short on time and labor, and this can have major implica tions for food safety. “Scarce labor, high turnover rates, and the need to frequently and properly train employees on proper food safety proto cols presents a major challenge to overall restaurant food safety levels,” says Isaac Fouts, lead chemist at Ecolab . “Working with a reduced staff puts more burden on each crew member to do more, taking time and focus away from important food safety tasks.” To combat this, many restaurants offer incentives to new hires and existing employees. Anything that makes employ ees’ lives easier can serve as a retention tool, including the streamlining of stan dard processes. “Another way operators are addressing employee satisfaction is by simplifying practices and processes, like food preparation, cleaning, and sanitizing,” says Chip Manuel, Ph.D., food safety sci ence advisor at GOJO . “They’re also ensur ing employees are using surface products that are worry-free, effective, fast-acting, and simple-to-use to address increas ing concerns around product safety and improve employee efficiencies.” Simplifying processes can also mean sourcing products designed to help res taurants minimize labor needs. “Operators

“ Working with a reduced staff puts more burden on each crew member to do more.”

Ecolab

ECOLAB

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JUNE 2023 | SPONSORED SECTION