by Mandie Finley

Created on: April 27, 2008

Being a previous owner of a restaurant, I completely understand the fears of customers eating at food establishments. I had my own and would not eat at eating establishments. There are unknown fears on proper safety and food handling. Health Inspectors are few and far between and only visit the food establishments once a year. Most states announce when the inspector is coming, and so the establishments have time to clean up. Though their rules are extremely strict, getting all the employees to follow hygiene and food safety is exhausting. Short of baby-sitting all of your employees, you need to have faith that they understand all the reasons that hygiene and health safety is important.Hand washing is probably the most important. Employees are supposed to wash their hands after each different type of food is handled or cut. The cutting boards have to be washed and sanitized after each different type of food. The same knife cannot be used unless washed and sanitized. Work areas have to be continuously sanitized and free of clutter. This is done so there is no risks of cross-contamination of foods. When mopping the floor, one mop is used for washing, and another for sanitizing. If you use a broom in the kitchen, you cannot use that same broom in the dining room. Granted there are a few places that don't follow these rules, however most restaurants are governed by stricter laws than you or I would use in our own kitchens.

When I had my own restaurant, we had a customer that was allergic to yeast. We cleaned off a place on the grill, used a separate spatula, and cooked her food. We had to be extremely careful that whatever we cooked for her didn't touch anything that was bread related. A good restaurant will follow all the guidelines and go to all the safety classes required by the law. There are places that get fines and get shut down for not following the rules. So I guess what I really am trying to say is that even though there are places out there that I never would eat at, there are a lot that I would. I have a better respect for health safety after owning the restaurant than I learned from my parents. Times change which in this case is a very good thing.

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