The conservation and preparation of food in a hygienic way is essential both to avoid possible health problems and to maintain their nutritional quality. Especially when the hot season arrives, these precautions must be taken.

The kitchen should be a clean and tidy room since food is handled there. Lack of hygiene can create sources of contamination, so care and maintenance must be taken care of.

A series of tips on proper hygiene in the kitchen as well as on the correct handling and cooking of food can greatly avoid possible food poisoning, especially frequent in the summer season. Of these, the most frequent is salmonellosis.

These foodborne diseases are caused by the ingestion of food contaminated by microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, parasites) or their toxins, which reach the food due to improper handling or poor preservation.

During the summer months, due to its high temperatures, there is an increased risk of microorganism development. Contamination pathways include hands (due to inappropriate habits after the use of toilets) and saliva droplets emitted when coughing, sneezing or talking can contaminate food (in germ-carrying people).

Other routes of contamination can be contaminated water or by washing food with non-potable water, improperly washed utensils and contaminated clothing. Hence the importance of maintaining hygienic habits throughout the process of preservation, cooking and food handling.

With Recyclit, we simplify the entire recycle procedure and save you a lot of time and effort from collecting all organic and inorganic wastes by having you posting them and letting the self-closing stainless-steel doors prevent any smells from spreading outside the recycling bin. Call us now if you want to learn more about our services and how we can help you achieve your goals in record time, we’ll be ready to assist you.

Hygiene standards in the kitchen

The different areas of the kitchen must maintain proper hygiene and cleaning standards. Among them we would highlight:

Pantry

It must be a cool and ventilated place. Food should be moved away from light and heat sources (they should be around 17ºC) and avoid being in contact with the ground.

Fridge and freezer

Keep them clean. Ideally, wash it with soap and water before putting in the weekly purchase and every 3 months make a deeper cleaning.

Garbage

It must always be kept covered; the ideal thing is a bucket with pedal.

Cookware

Those that are routinely used for food handling such as kitchen tables should be cleaned with water, soap and a brush after each use. The use of hardwood or rigid plastic boards, which are free from defects and that are easy to wash, is recommended. If possible, it is preferable to use two tables, one for fruits, vegetables and ready-to-eat foods and another for raw foods of animal origin that require preparation.

Regarding the rest of the utensils, they must be clean and washed when finished cutting, wash the canned food lids before opening them and never put ready-to-eat food on a plate where some raw food was previously placed (such as meat, chicken or fish).

Pets should not enter the kitchen

Some of the hygiene rules for pets include that if they have to eat in the kitchen, the feeder should be placed in a corner that should be washed after each meal. Cleaning products should always be placed separately from food. In no case can they come into contact with food. It is convenient to have a safety lock and that are not accessible to children.

Cloths and rags

It is recommended to use a cloth or cloth for each use and should be washed and drained after use. The sponges and brushes are perfect if they are washed in the dishwasher. The change of clothes and cloths must be done often. The rags used to dry the dishes and clean the kitchen must be clean. It is advisable to wash them at least once a week with hot water.

The area where it is cooked should be clean

It can be washed with a special chlorine solution for use in the kitchen (taking care that it does not mix with food) or with a commercial bactericidal solution.

The kitchen sink drain

It can be a focus of germ accumulation. It is recommended to take a specific disinfectant solution, especially if meat or products derived from dead animals have been prepared. This must be done since these wastes remain in the drainage and can create a perfect environment for bacteria to develop.

• Tips and tricks on how to recycle
• A supervisor, either permanently or temporarily with shifts among employees, will help maintain good recycling practice.
• Keeping the containers clean completely and often will help hygiene and prevent odors in the establishment.
• Using bags or caps of the usual colors in recycling, will help any employee to automatically identify what each container is for.
• The rotation of products, there is no better way to recycle than not to dispose of, instruct the staff and have a good labeling system and expiration dates, it will help both the pocket and avoid the generation of waste will help to achieve the highest possible sustainability in the kitchen.
• Purchase with a head, having much excess of some perishable products leads to the previous point, we increase the generation of waste and it will also affect our pocket. Remember that storage also costs money.
• Practicing the kitchen planning, decoupling the production of the service based on technology is one of the best alternatives to optimise all the resources in the kitchen area.

With Recyclit, we simplify the entire recycling procedure and save you a lot of time and effort from collecting all organic and inorganic wastes by having you posting them and letting the self-closing stainless-steel doors prevent any smells from spreading outside the recycling bin. This is the latest stain-less steel addition to any kitchen. If you want more information about our superior recycling techniques and tips, do not hesitate to contact us, our experts will be ready to assist you.