Food Safety & Hygiene:

Managing hotel & restaurant chains

& protecting your brand
The increasing number of foodborne incidents has raised consumer awareness and applied pressure on hotels
and restaurants to ensure food safety. Businesses can achieve this with a comprehensive food safety management
system that tests against all possible sources of contamination and full traceability when a food-borne illness
occurs.

How do you ensure your food is safe for consumption?

Professional kitchens need to ensure consumers are protected

The Challenge Hotels and restaurants need to implement

Over the years, there have been a number of
foodborne illnesses which have challenged
“Hotels and many international hotel and restaurant
restaurants need chains. This has been highlighted more
recently with food poisoning cases involving
to implement a campylobacter, salmonella, E coli and listeria
comprehensive in raw and processed meats, chicken and fish;
staphylococcus aureus in pastries and pasta;
Food Safety and an outbreak of the norovirus in hotels in
Japan. Some of these incidents have led to
Management prolonged hospital confinements, court cases
System (FSMS) and even death.
in accordance The Solution
One of the common solutions adopted by
with certifiable the industry is a comprehensive food safety
international management programme that undertakes
regular sampling and testing of critical food
standards, such items including water and ice, and kitchen
sanitation audits which include assessing the
as ISO 22000, hygiene practices of food handlers and swab-
FSSC22000, BRC testing food contact surfaces. In addition
to tests and audits, delivery inspection and
version 7, and IFS” supplier product evaluations are also carried
out.
a comprehensive Food Safety Management
System (FSMS) in accordance with certifiable
international standards, such as ISO 22000,
FSSC 22000, BRC version 7, and IFS.
All of these standards are engaged through
an independent body providing food safety
services and aim to monitor food quality and
safety by preventing cross-contamination of
food. This ensures the consumer is always
protected when dining in hotel and restaurant
outlets.
Kitchen Sanitation & Hygiene
Environmental conditions and facilties in the
kitchen are assessed by their conformance
to accepted standards of sanitation such
as Codex Alimentarius, the Recommended
International Code of Practice, and General
Principles of Food Hygiene.
In particular, many hotels and restaurants
have been successful in implementing Hazard
Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP)
food safety assurance plans for a number of
years.
The Audit Process
During a typical kitchen audit, independent auditors
carry out a number of visual checks, including an
inspection of the receiving bay, through to the
various kitchen areas, such as dry storage, walk-in
chillers, freezers, butchery, the main kitchen and
a variety of specialised areas, e.g. international
cuisines, pastry section, room service kitchen, and
the buffet display.
Each area or kitchen is evaluated on a number
of levels, including the hygienic conditions of
ventilation and exhaust systems, while lighting
fixtures, walls, floors and ceilings are also assessed
to ensure thay they do not cause potential physical
or microbiological hazards.
Similarly, potential points for insect entry and
harbourage are identified and eliminated through
an effective pest control programme to prevent
opportunities for microbial growth, alongside
hygienically controlled disposal and handling of
kitchen refuse.
In addition, it is imperative that a review/assessment
of equipment is not missed. It is compulsory
to ensure that all hand-washing facilities have
complete supplies of hot water, soap, nailbrushes,
and disinfecting solution, as well as hand dryers or
towels to allow the full implementation of personal
hygiene procedures to take place.
Dishwashers must be working perfectly, walk-in
chillers, freezers, hot-holding and cold-holding
cabinets must be well maintained and temperature
gauges must be well calibrated.
The accuracy of reading temperature gauges is
very important to define food safety relative to
the growth of micro-organisms. Normally, micro-
organisms exhibit logarithmic growth at the
temperature danger zone (TDZ) of 4.4-60 deg
C. Time, temperature control and an accurate
temperature reading eliminates prolonged exposure
to the TDZ.
Hygiene Inspection
As an integrated approach to kitchen sanitation and
hygiene audits, checks are made on food handlers’
personal hygiene, and working practices during
food handling and preparation. This necessitates
a high level of understanding by the staff on the
personal hygiene commandments; Prep-It-Safe and
Serve-It-Safe.
It is necessary for all kitchen workers to undergo
training on food safety, hygiene and safe practices
to ensure that they apply hygienic procedures, and
do not cross-contaminate food with any type of
pathogenic bacteria during handling, processing
and serving.
The basic rule is: keep hot food hot and cold food
cold. Avoid prolonged exposure of food to the TDZ.
Cleaning & Disinfection
Swabbing is a common practice in evaluating the
cleanliness of surfaces. Swab samples are used to
detect the presence of certain bacteria in food-
contact areas.
During kitchen audits, food-contact surfaces such
as those of utensils, chopping boards, knives, pots,
pans, and food processing equipment, are randomly
swabbed and analysed for total microbiological
content.
The purpose of this activity is to check whether the
cleaning and disinfection process completed by
the kitchen staff is carried out correctly on surfaces
which have been treated by the right dosage of
sterilising solutions.
Swabbing the hands of food handlers works in the
same way and determines if hand-washing is done
properly by kitchen staff.
First-In-First-Out
Food safety assurance and hazards control starts
at receiving. All foods accepted must be carefully
inspected and correctly stored to ensure their highest
quality and to protect them from contamination and
deterioration.
Proper storage of foods and raw ingredients must
follow the basic principle of First-In-First-Out (FIFO);
this means utilising the items bought or delivered
with reference to expiration or use-by dates. This
principal helps to avoid losses and spoilage.
FIFO cannot be successfully implemented without
proper date labelling and segregation. Walk-in
chillers and freezers must have designated racks or
shelves per food category in order to avoid potential
cross-contamination. Special attention is given to
condenser areas in chillers and freezers and no food
of any type must be stored underneath, as condenser
drippings can potentially cause cross-contamination.
Likewise, dry foods or foods stored at ambient
temperatures must be carefully segregated, labelled,
and there should be no bloated cans, damp cartons
or torn packages which can harbour insects.
FSMS is helpful to hotel and restaurant operators
in achieving a sound food safety culture. In order
for the system to be implemented effectively,
organisations need to ensure that every employee
is highly committed, fully trained and consistent in
his/her practices.
Supporting You
The Intertek Food Hygiene Control Mark
To help promote the hygiene standards of your restaurants
and to differentiate your quality proposition, Intertek has
developed a Food Hygiene Control Mark to help not only
manage the risk of food related incidents but promote
customer care through best practices.
The Intertek Food Hygiene Control Mark is a global
consistency standard for both domestic and international
brands, providing consumers with a meaningful
comparison, by an independent food safety official, to
check food premises are compliant with food hygiene
best practices.
In order to become recognised, Intertek will provide an in-
depth risk assessment and inspection of your premises for
food delivery and storage, preventative activities, kitchen,
food handler and safety standards. Our experts can also
carry out relevant testing services including shelf life,
water and ice.
By becoming recognised with the Intertek Food Hygiene
Control Mark you will:
• Promote food safety and quality
• Pro-actively improve processes which will save you
valuable time and resources
• Have a recognisable logo to demonstrate your
compliance with the highest standards
• Reduce the risk for your business whilst protecting
the consumer
• Ensure compliance with regulations and your sanitary
control plans
• Safeguard your brand’s reputation
• Demonstrate your due diligence in food safety
If you would like to understand more about food safety
and hygiene or any of our other food services, contact
our regional customer service centres using the details on
the back of this white paper.
With over 1,000 laboratories and offices in over 100 countries
worldwide, we offer genuinely global supply chain solutions.
Our leading inspection, supervision, testing and auditing services
can be integrated to guarantee the safety, quality and integrity
of production and distribution methods. Our experts on the
ground give you the benefit of local knowledge, while our global
coordination team can monitor services along your entire supply
chain, anywhere in the world.

For more information on Food Services contact

one of our Regional Customer Service Centres:

Europe Americas Asia

Intertek Food Services Intertek Food Services Global Customer Service
Olof-Palme-Str. 8 711 Parkland Court Centre (Asia Office)
28719 Bremen Champaign 80 Bendemeer Road
Germany Illinois 61821 Hyflux Innovation Centre
Tel: +49 421 65727 390 United States #03-02
food@intertek.com
Tel: +1 844 818 6624 Singapore 339949
food@intertek.com Tel: +65 68 05 48 88
food@intertek.com

www.intertek.com/food 290216ENG_JT