This year’s Food Safety Day theme, “Prepare for the Unexpected,” reminds us that while we can’t predict every twist and turn in the kitchen, we can certainly be ready for anything that comes our way. Here at Chowman we not only serve delicious delights but we’re also setting a golden standard for Food Safety Protocols. Putting light on the culinary heroes of our kitchen, Chowman has taken up measure to ensure consumption of safe food items, safety measures and has adopted ideas to be always prepared for the unexpected.
Control Measures taken in the kitchen:
Personal Hygiene – This is the foremost crucial step in maintaining safety in kitchen premises. Long hair, accessories like neck chains, bangles, rings, religious threads and ear studs are mostly hazardous materials. These materials contain several unwanted microorganisms; therefore during the preparation of any food or marination process of ready to eat cuisines, cross contamination might take place. This in return may cause food poisoning like ecoli and salmonella.
Hence in order to take this under control, every individual in the kitchen must wear caps, aprons, avoid accessories, and wear clean clothing.
Safety Shoes – The first step to enuring self safety is the use of safety shoes in the kitchen at the time of work. During working hours, the kitchen floors are extremely oily and slippery; hence during the handling of any operations like boiling, frying, cutting, any uncertainity might occur leading to a mishap.
Ensure Covering – We make sure any food item is not left open to any ambience. It is ensured that any raw or cooked food item is covered with a thin wrap, metal lid or a plastic lid. Our surrounding consists of microbial load which may contaminate the food if not contained properly.
Freezer Arrangement – When any food material is stored in the refrigerator, it is aligned in three categories; cooked, semi-cooked & raw.
We have chosen the top most section of the refrigerator for storing cooked materials like fresh fruits and vegetables that can be consumed directly just after heating.
The section below that is used to store semi cooked food like marinated diced and sliced chicken which are half cooked and ready to be added to mixtures.
The last section under that is used to keep raw food material.
If this sequence is reversed, then it is observed that the water from raw materials may trickle down, damaging the other two sections and increasing the microbial load. Therefore the ideal arrangement of the refrigerator is an extremely crucial process.
Sanitization of Raw Materials – Whenever there are incoming raw materials, Chowman kitchen ensures sanitization of each raw material after it is received. Not only raw veggies, not even egg is beaten up directly. The egg is first sanitized and then utilized. Even the chopping board and knife is dipped into 150ppm chlorine solution overnight to sanitize them before using it next morning.
Cleanliness Norms – Not only raw materials, but the floors and walls of the kitchen are wiped with various solutions to ensure ambience safety. Our staffs are also given sanitizing liquids to be used at an interval of every 1.5 hours to wash their hand. According to reports 80% pathway of cross contamination is through ones hands, therefore ensuring cleanliness of hands is an important process.
Maintaining Temperature Records – Our refrigerator temperature varies from 0-5 degrees Celsius. And the freezer temperature goes down up to -18 degrees Celsius. Hence ensuring correct food storing temperatures is crucial to maintain food safety. We maintain various logbooks like thawing temperature logbook & cooking temperature logbook, briefing sheet and cleaning and sanitization sheets to ensure proper functioning norms and ensure safety.
As Food Safety Day at Chowman draws to a close, we reflect on the crucial insights shared and the collective commitment to maintaining the highest standards of food safety. We reaffirm the dedication to providing safe and delicious meals for everyone.
Together, we can ensure that every dining experience at Chowman is not only enjoyable but also safe and healthy.
