BEST PRACTICE: How to avoid kitchen contamination

In the last year, the Saudi Municipality stepped up restaurant inspections following a detection of 45 cases of contamination in 2011 in Yanbu. Dubai Municipality similarly launched a number of initiatives which ranged from courses for health supervisors to awards for those with the best food-safety practices.

One of the ongoing industry concerns regionally at present is the level of food safety and hygiene standards of eateries.

The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) announced the expansion of its portfolio of food training courses with the launch of the level 3 in Food Safety qualification in partnership with the Dubai Municipality.

But flicking through past issues of Caterer, there are very few mentions of training courses regarding food safety. Consulting the industry, one further learns that there aren’t very many professional food safety qualifications available that are tailored to the regional market and its challenges such as climate and the volume of foodstuffs that are exported in.

If anything, this has forced F&B outlets to develop their own training and certification programmes when it comes to food safety, with many seeking the appropriate municipality guidance.

The right people
“We associate with Dubai Municipality approved external training providers for the formal food safety training programmes but to ensure the food safety lessons are practiced on the floor a tailor made internal education method is essential.

Deviations and violations observed in the daily operations with evidences should be incorporated in the internal training sessions to correct the food handlers. These informal sessions are key in ensuring a positive food safety culture in the organisation,” says Frank Noack, executive chef, Hilton Dubai Jumeirah Resort and Residences.

The Jumeirah Group has a comprehensive food safety manual which it devised with Dubai Municipality. This involves it only working with certified suppliers says Gert Kopera, senior vice president F&B, Jumeirah Group.

“We assume full control of food delivery trucks when they arrive at the loading dock and on receiving the goods we check all raw and fresh produce for freshness, correct labelling and of course the quality of what is delivered compared to what is specified on the order.

We assure a strict sanitation process for all fresh fruits and vegetables. Our food safety manual stipulates a full-control documentation system from the point of receiving of raw produce to the final point of serving prepared food to a guest,” says Kopera.

While there is still work to be done, options have improved believes The Ritz-Carlton Doha’s quality and food safety manager Diego Esquivel.

Training is a big factor when it comes to the adherence of food safety rules and regulations and many outlets believe that staff need to fully understand the importance of why the regulations are in place.

“They are the ones driving the food safety throughout the property all the way from purchasing, receiving, storing, then all the steps that the product travels through the kitchen until it reaches the guest’s plate in one of our seven outlets,” says Esquivel.

Noack adds that just putting the rules and regulations in place, doesn’t guarantee food safety: “application holds the key; programmes tailored for the business is crucial in delivering the essence of food safety. ”

Al Shamil Trading recently launched a mobile-bus catering operation. Naturally food safety demands in this environment differ from those faced by outlets in a fixed place.

But the level of food safety and hygiene is something that cannot be compromised regardless of the environment.

“All of the staff that we employ undergo specialised training in food handling, self hygiene and workplace and food safety. Aside from these initial training sessions, we also hold regular on-the-job training sessions,” says Rohit Dalmia, managing director, Al Shamil Foodstuff Trading.

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Moving and shaking
“In a restaurant environment, it is easy to prepare fresh food and serve it within the next 10 to 15 minutes.

However, this is not the case in a mobile catering set up, where dishes have to be created to last for several hours, and as earlier mentioned, even by several days.

Key ingredients like tomatoes, green chillies, cheese, potatoes and several meats cannot be used as they spoil quickly, yet without using them, the food will taste like there is something missing.

Identifying and creating foods that offer variety and are attractive and delicious and can last for several hours under varying temperatures is certainly our biggest challenge,” says Dalmia.

But in a restaurant environment, food safety can be equally challenging. As Esquivel aptly puts it “every day is a race against weather, time temperature and ambience.”

The biggest challenges regarding food safety comes in the transportation and storage of foodstuffs.

Nidal Haddad, CEO of Al Bayader International, packaging solutions provider
said people must be educated on how to correctly package their food: “We started an awareness campaign sponsored by Dubai Municipality in 2011.

In 2012, we started another campaign – Learning is Fun - targeting Grade 5 to 7 school students in the UAE to teach them the safe ways of packaging their food and understanding the importance of manufacturing.”

As a supplier, Al Bayader is HACCP certified with an ISO 9001 implementation and focuses on applying strict hygiene procedures in its facilities. After it produces its packaging solutions, each batch is tested by an external lab to assure the quality and hygiene of the final product.

“When developing a new range or a new material combination, the new products are subject to many tests before releasing it to the market. Some of these are: migration of substances from the packaging to the food, microbiological, and heat resistance,” says Haddad.

In Al-Shamil’s case, every stage has to be carefully considered. The company has made significant investment in commercial storage equipment for its warehouse.

“The use of modern cooling and food storage equipment gives us the advantage of being able to maintain our food items according to the required temperature and also based on the instructions placed on the food or beverage labels,” says Dalmia.

“Transporting food items from our warehouse to the bus is yet another challenge as certain foods cannot be mixed with others. Some have to be refrigerated between two to five degrees Celsius while others have to be maintained at a constant 57 degrees Celsius.

Our food products are transported in special temperature-controlled boxes, which are then unloaded into the bus refrigerators and specially designed hot bags.”

But while modern equipment does aid the implementation of an effective food safety strategy, sometimes things are just best done the old-fashioned way.

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Hands on approach
“My day starts very early having a look at the first deliveries, inspecting, smelling and touching poultry, fish etc,” says Ritz-Carlton Doha’s Esquivel.
“It is not just about the hygiene but also the quality of the products.

Then I go round having a look at our 20-plus walk-in chillers and freezers, I attend the daily meetings they have in all our kitchens and we speak everyday about something related to food safety, it’s crucial to awake the interest in the science.”

At Pizza Express, high risk food, fridge temperature and supplier deliveries are physically recorded.

“We conduct monthly food hygiene test and audits in all the restaurants and any compliances are dealt with seriously, says Prashanth Menon, operations head at Jordana Restaurants.

But the big question is whether food outlets are supported enough in their quest to achieving food safety. Hilton’s Noack believes the food safety group launched by Dubai Municipality is an excellent aid for F&B outlets to regularly consult with the body on food safety matters.

But while major hotel groups like Jumeirah work closely with the Dubai Municipality, and as a result its food safety programme has since provided a benchmark for the region, there are concerns that more could be done across the board.

Shared vision
“So far the hotel is being measured by many regulations – national and international,” says Esquivel.

“This helps us to maintain the highest standards in everything we do, Baladiya (municipality) is one of them, it is the governmental institution that regulates all the hotels and F&B operations in the country, we work closely with them, they visit us on monthly basis and we have a very good relationship.

We exchange information and we learn a lot from them, there are a lot of projects from the authorities regarding food safety in Qatar.

“Mostly from my point of view I would like to see the small shops and rest of the restaurants in the area raise their bar like us, five-star hotels. Our guests can then go out and do what the tourists do, when visiting different locations. They can then have their meals without worrying they are not in the hotel.”

Pizza Express’ Menon agrees: “It would be great if the municipality and the hospitality industry work hand in hand and share the latest views and challenges we face in day to day operations.

“There are lots of new innovative food safety methods being developed. It’ll be great when these are shared among all in the hospitality industry,” he
concludes.