Importance of Food Safety in Restaurants - Research Paper Example

Food Safety in RestaurantsThe organizations and restaurants in the food service industry should adopt a proactive as well as long term approach when it comes to dealing with issues like food safety. Considering the gravity of issue, food safety training for all restaurant employees should be considered a better option as compared to a stronger enforcement program by the local health department. Enforcement program is a short term and reactive approach as compared to training. It is far more effective to deal with food safety problems by training the employees rather than reacting to a situation after the problem becomes public.

Restaurant owners and managers should benchmark the famous example of Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonald when he canceled the license of a franchise restraint when he saw a fly. Such was his commitment to cleanliness and food safety. All restaurants should make food safety and cleanliness an integral part of their mission statements, rules and regulations and should also incorporate them in their training programs.Benefits: A good training program protects the customers from any harmful effects and so in the process it protects the business venture.

Trained employees will not just ensure food safety and cleanliness but they will also be efficient and productive. Apart from protecting the customers a good training also safeguards the health and safety of employees. Employee training also ensures their motivation and loyalty because training makes them feel that they are involved in the bigger picture. A training program also makes employees more customers driven.In order to reap the benefits of cleanliness and safety of the business, employees and customers, a good training program is a must.

A training program does not necessarily means huge investments in human resources. “Operators can opt to purchase a program directly or attend training offered through state restaurant associations, health departments or community colleges” (Lynn, Pars.15). A good way of imparting training would be to send a representative from the organization to outside who then can come back and train all others.However, the point that should be of emphasis here is that training should not be considered a short term solution.

It should be considered a policy of continuous improvement and an ongoing process. So the new standards and techniques should be taught all the time to employees. Organizations should keep in touch with national and local organizations and authorities that specialize in food and restaurant safety and training programs.Lat but not the least is the fact that a good training program is great tool to reinforce in customers a feeling that organization cares about them and the environment they provide to them.

This in fact is crucial in building long term relationships with them.Recommendations for Rodent Control: The rodent problem is something that should be seriously considered a big threat by the restaurant owners. Once they are sighted by any customer or the news of a rodent goes public it could even mean closure of the business. Therefore, the problem should be tackled at the infrastructure level. Managers must ensure that there are no loopholes left in the infrastructure. The restaurant area should be made in a way that prevents the entry of such creatures within the restaurant area.

The use of snaps traps and rodenticides within the kitchen area is not just unsafe but illegal as well. However, such tarps and baits could be used in the exterior of the restaurant. The best recommended strategy would be to kill rodents before they enter the structure and to maintain a clean property that is not just the interior but the exterior as well.ReferenceLynn, Jacquelyn. “Better Safe Than Sorry: Training Food Handlers Protects Everyone”. Restaurant.org. September 1996. March 18, 2006.