If you own a restaurant, you have many responsibilities to manage. One responsibility is keeping your restaurant clean at all times, but taking special care during inspections. Passing your health inspection improves your restaurant’s reputation and creates a safer experience for your diners.
Understand the Health Code
For the sake of customer safety, certain health codes need to be followed. Food needs to be kept at certain temperatures and stored properly. There are also cleaning standards that need to be met to reduce health hazards. To prepare for your next health inspection, you should take some time to study the health codes. Keep in mind that they may vary by state. If you understand the health codes, you know what procedures must be followed and how your kitchen should be run. It may also help you to know what mistakes are most common so you can avoid them.
Do a Deep Cleaning
You can get ahead of the game by setting aside time to deep clean your restaurant and especially your kitchen. You could do this on a day your restaurant isn’t open or during off hours. A deep clean allows you to clean areas that usually don’t get attention. You can remove dust, grime, mold, and anything else that has accumulated over time. A deep clean also reduces the risks of pests. Pests can pose a health risk to your employees and customers. Cleaning well removes anything that would create an environment for pests.
Create a Regular Maintenance Schedule
The best way to prepare for a health inspection is to always be ready for it. Having a daily schedule for cleaning and maintenance means everything is constantly kept up to the proper standards. Each day, you and your staff can take care of some cleaning. You should also account for items that only need to be cleaned every few days or once a week. Having a regular schedule also means that everything will be cleaner than if you do one last-minute cleaning before an inspection. You are creating a better standard for your restaurant by cleaning every day.
Having a clean restaurant means you’re preparing food in a safe place and giving your diners a better experience. Health inspections don’t need to be something for you to stress about. You can start preparing now so you can pass your next inspection with flying colors.
Check out this article on how to preserve your restaurant’s reputation!