STAYING INSPECTION-READY

The best way to avoid health code violations is to stay inspection-ready. Treat every day as a possible inspection day and download ServSafe's Self-Inspection Checklist to ensure you’re covering all your food safety bases. 

Another essential component of staying inspection-ready is making sure employees are food-handler trained and up to date on food safety best practices. Boston Food Safety provided ServSafe certification classes is the number one choice across New England for comprehensive food safety training and certification, empowering restaurant employees to work safer.

COMMON HEALTH CODE VIOLATIONS AND HOW TO PREVENT THEM

PERSONAL HYGIENE

food safety personal hygiene
Good personal hygiene among staff is critical for reducing the spread of pathogens and maintaining a safe restaurant. When employees don’t follow handwashing guidelines, wear dirty clothes, or show up to work sick, they put your entire operation at risk.

TIME AND TEMPERATURE

temp
Certain foods become unsafe when they fall between the temperatures of 41° F and 135° F (known as the temperature danger zone) for an extended period. The longer food sits in this range, the higher the risk it has of harboring harmful bacteria.

CROSS-CONTAMINATION

food safety cross contamination
Cross-contamination happens when pathogens are transferred from one food or surface to another, putting guests in harm. Apart from improper storage, crosscontamination can occur when food is mishandled during preparation or serving.

FOOD STORAGE

food safety storage
One of the most common reasons for a negative health inspection is improper food storage. Storing inventory incorrectly—especially raw and ready-to-eat foods— can lead to cross-contamination, which is one of the main contributors to food-borne illnesses.

CLEANING AND SANITATION

cleaning
While cleaning removes food and other dirt from a surface, sanitizing reduces bacteria on a surface to safe levels. Surfaces and equipment that aren’t properly sanitized after coming in contact with food can grow dangerous bacteria. Sanitizing requires a careful mixture of chemicals in order to kill bacteria on the spot.

USING THE RIGHT SANITIZERS

food safety sanitizer
Part of staying compliant when sanitizing a kitchen is using the right chemical sanitizers. The most common sanitizers for foodservice are chlorine, iodine, and quaternary ammonium (quats). These are some common factors impacting sanitizer effectiveness:

Most inspections will cover these critical food safety categories:

Source: https://foodsafetyfocus.com, https://info.servsafe.com/nfsm