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As a restaurant owner, your first priority should be to ensure the taste and quality of your food to ensure your customers are both happy and healthy. Food spoilage can lead to sick patrons and sick patrons could leave you with a major lawsuit on your hands. Fortunately, there are a few little-known ways to help improve both the safety and quality of the food you serve in your restaurant.

Understand How Bacteria Affects Food

Food is subject to two types of bacteria: pathogenic and spoilage. Pathogenic bacterium is linked to foodborne illnesses caused by salmonella, clostridium botulinum, listeria, and Escherichia coli to name a few. Even if you think you practice the correct food safety measures to prevent foodborne illnesses, keep in mind that an estimated 48 million people suffer from foodborne illnesses each year. The problem with pathogenic bacterium is that it does not affect the taste, smell, or sight of the food.

Spoilage bacterium alters the flavor, smell, and appearance of food. Bacterial spoilage of food may be caused by enzymes caused by improperly cooked foods, and oxidation by air, which can occur when food is left out too long or improperly stored. Spoilage eventually occurs with all foods, but there is a way of slowing spoilage when you carry out the proper safety protocols when it comes to both cooking and storing food.

Prevent or Slow Bacterial Growth

To begin with, the FDA recommends that foods be kept in a refrigerator that is set at or below 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Freezer sections of the refrigerator should be maintained at 0 degrees Fahrenheit. Ensure that the thermostat in your commercial refrigerator works properly in order to guarantee that you are adhering to FDA recommendations. If you notice that your food is spoiling, it could indicate that there is a problem with the thermostat.

Label all foods properly, which includes a list of the ingredients contained within the food and the date the food was stored in the fridge. Make sure you check the fridge each day for food that must be removed and thrown into the trash in order to prevent spoilage. If even one food item spoils, it could lead to the premature spoilage of other foods stored in your refrigerator.

Avoid Food Storage Mistakes

Commercial refrigerators are built in such a way that it should not matter which shelf you store your food on. The temperature throughout the inside of the fridge should remain the same. Therefore, if you notice foods in the middle of the shelf spoiling before those stored on the top and bottom shelf, it could indicate a problem with the refrigeration system.

Keep in mind that although you can store your food on any shelf in the fridge, it is highly recommended that you place poultry and other meats on the bottom of the fridge. If you store meats on the middle or top shelf, you run the risk of food contamination. If the container in which you store your meat is accidentally damaged, the meat could contaminate foods on lower shelves. Additionally, if the refrigeration system stops working, the meat may spoil and juices may spill over onto lower shelves.

You should also make sure you are following the recommended guidelines for food storage. For example, hamburger and other ground meats should not remain in the refrigerator for more than 1 to 2 days. Soups and stew, on the other hand, have a refrigeration span of 3 to 4 days. Many commercial refrigeration systems come equipped with a cold storage chart that lists the recommended storage times for various foods. Refer to the chart frequently to ensure the safety and quality of your food.

Finally, while the temperature within your fridge should remain consistent if the refrigeration system works properly, the temperature of shelves on the door will often fluctuate. Therefore, you should not make the mistake of storing perishable foods on the door shelves. Instead, place all perishable items on the inner shelves of the fridge.

If, by chance, you notice problems with the refrigeration system, contact a professional, such as Pro-Staff Mechanical Inc, for assistance. A professional can perform an inspection on the fridge to help you fix the problem. Failure to address refrigeration issues in a timely fashion could lead to spoiled, wasted foods and sick customers.