National Food Safety Month, week 2: Proper cleaning, sanitizing procedures

The National Restaurant Association is starting week two of National Food Safety Month with a focus on foundational cleaning and sanitizing best practices for your restaurant operation.

The 5-week initiative, entitled “A Recipe for Food Safety Success,” is designed to help operators strengthen everyday food safety best practices.

During week two, the Association’s ServSafe food safety subject matter experts offer tips and solutions on how to ensure equipment, surfaces, and workstations are properly cleaned and sanitized to help restaurants prevent contamination, reduce food safety risks, and deliver food safely and with confidence.

The Association originally launched National Food Safety Month in 1994 to raise awareness of food safety education and training across the restaurant industry. Since then, it showcases a new theme and related resources from ServSafe every September. This week, operators will learn how to:

• Evaluate cleaning and sanitizing procedures
• Review sanitizer concentrations
• Verify cleaning schedules, and
• Reinforce the important distinction between cleaning and sanitizing

One thing to always bear in mind is the big difference between cleaning and sanitizing. Cleaning removes food and other types of soil from surfaces, such as countertops and plates, while sanitizing reduces the number of pathogens on clean surfaces to safe levels. Everything must be kept clean, and any surface coming into contact with food must be cleaned and sanitized.

Download this week's food safety bundle of tools and reminders to help make cleaning and sanitizing part of your operation's daily food safety success.