QSR June 2023

Food Safety SmartChain

restaurant has never experienced an out break. Strong, consistent practices and regular training can prevent a disaster scenario. After all, it only takes one slip up by one person to potentially destroy consumer goodwill toward a brand. “Sometimes establishments think they are not at risk just because they have never had an outbreak before. This is a danger ous belief because an outbreak can not only harm your employees and guests, but it is also costly and can cause long-term damage to your establishment’s reputa tion,” Manuel says. “Along this line, opera tors also need to ensure the surface prod ucts they are using actually kill viruses of concern, like norovirus. Public health agencies can increasingly trace an out break back to its origins, and you don’t want it to be your establishment.” According to Steritech assessment data, restaurant brands consistently experience a higher number of food safety issues on particular days of the week. The specific days of the week vary by brand, but virtu ally all brands were found to have at least one day of the week where their issue count is consistently and significantly higher than the rest. The data revealed that—perhaps coun terintuitively—a location’s worst day often corresponded with the days when more people were present. “This indicates the issue is not always caused by a labor gap, but a leadership gap,” Boyles says. “The common factor seems to be that leader ship is focused on something other than food prep on certain days: delivery days, inventory shifts, manager meetings, or other tasks. It also correlates to the expe rience level of the leadership present; for example, issue counts often rise on the general manager’s regular day off.” Steritech has found that the difference between a brand’s best day of the week and its worst day is typically between 12 percent and 18 percent, but some brands vary by more than 30 percent. “Restaurant owners and managers need to recognize and pay close attention to those ‘oppor tunity days’ in order to ensure proper and consistent food safety practices are being executed at every shift, every time,” Boyles says.

“ Ensuring food safety is one of the most crucial aspects any restaurant business faces.”

SafetyCulture

SAFETYCULTURE

Purchasing quality ingredients also remains a critically important part of maintaining food safety and customer loyalty. “Restaurant operators need to rec ognize that their patrons may view going out to eat as more of a splurge than ever before, and ensuring the quality and safety of their products is vital to the busi ness,” says Kylie Uvodich, general man ager, Americas at SafetyCulture . Regulations are calling for new ways of labeling, packaging, and storing prod ucts in various locations. “A handful of our customers are facing new legislation whereby all restaurants are being forced to face a new ROP procedure (‘reduce oxy gen packaging’), whereby removing food from a bag and sealing it at a specific tem perature for a period of time is calling for

a new, rigorous process,” Uvodich says. “This is forcing many of our customers to adopt new hardware and new software to keep up with the growing government demands. Not to mention, more and more states are adopting new procedures like this. This makes national chains become much more difficult to manage.” As restaurant operators deal with sky rocketing costs at virtually every turn, food safety programs, products, and ser vices may be seen as just another pain ful expense. But cutting corners on food safety can end up cau sing extensive and lasting harm. “Ensuring food safety is one of the most crucial aspects any restaurant business faces, and ensuring the proper protocols are met is vital to long-term suc cess,” Uvodich says. SC

SPONSORED SECTION | JUNE 2023

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