Whether at the Chez Michael restaurant, the Heron Rock Bistro or the 4 Mile Restaurant & Pub or for that matter, any restaurant at all in Melbourne, food safety is vitally important. No matter how fantastic your business may be, a simply food handling mistake by your staff could be a serious, even insurmountable setback to your business.

The restaurant business is built on two things – repeat clientele and a good public image of your establishment. Your reputation IS your business. Even one lawsuit stemming from improper food handling can be a catastrophe for your restaurant.

You make sure that proper food handling procedures are followed at your restaurant; you need to ensure kitchen staff are well aware of the risks which a case of food poisoning presents to your business. You need to be prepared in the event that health inspectors should decide to drop by for a surprise visit as well. Employees who see improper food handling in your kitchen are also a risk to your business, as they may decide to tell the world what they know if they lose their job.

And there is more to this than simply properly storing food and disposing of waste.

One of the basic things that must be done is to constantly clean and keep clean food preparation areas and equipment. This seems simple, but it’s simple to screw it up, too. For instance, different cutting boards should be used to prepare meat, seafood, vegetables. Some places use stainless steel counters on which to do cutting, but this can dull your knives and some people say meat absorbs a little bit of “steel flavor” and, while harmless, that’s not good. Plastic cutting boards are more sanitary and easier to clean than wooden ones. Each cutting board needs to be thoroughly rinsed or put into the washer after every meal preparation. Chlorine bleach may be used for a deeper cleaning, but make sure the rinse is extremely thorough if bleach is used for cleaning.

Utensils need to be washed after every meal they are used to prepare, as well.

To ensure that all harmful bacteria have been killed, meats have to be cooked to a minimum internal temperature – 69 degrees for pork and red meats, 74 degrees for seafood. Even if a customer orders a rare steak, it must be cooked to 69 degrees for at least 15 seconds to reduce the risk of food poisoning. If you have any meats which are not definitely fresh, then you must make sure to prepare them very well done.

The preparation of raw foods such as sushi call for even greater care. These foods require you to keep your kitchen perfectly clean and a grade-A preparation staff are essential here, as is being sure that your supplier of seafood is very clean. When preparing sushi, disposable gloves and hair coverings must be worn and the preparation area so clean that one could literally eat that sushi off of the floor. Sushi must be discarded if it is not absolutely certain that it is fresh.

It’s shocking how many kitchen workers do not constantly wash their hands with soap and water between preparing meals, even if they’ve touched raw meat. Kitchen workers need to wash their hands between every meal preparation, and really it’s a good idea to do quick hand washings between different handlings (such as going from meat to vegetables) during a meal preparation.

By enforcing a strict kitchen sanitation and food handling program, you will be protecting the interests of your customers as well as those of your restaurant.