Hygiene Rules for Hotel Kitchen and Food Production Staff
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Kitchen staff and Chefs should wear clean uniforms, aprons and hats when handling food.
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Uniforms and hats must not be worn outside the premises as this might cause contamination.
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Kitchen staff must always wear the issued closed shoes and socks and at any case, no slippers or bare feet are allowed while working in the kitchen.
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Kitchen staff must be showered and shaved daily when reporting to work.
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Chef's hair must be clean and short and for females, if hair too long to shoulder, it must be tied back off the face.
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Nails are to be clean and short to avoid any food contamination.
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Staff must not wear watches or jewellery, except for a plain wedding ring and small earrings.
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Staff must not wear strong perfume or aftershave while working in the kitchen.
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No food and drink consumption in the food preparation areas should be allowed.
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Smoking in the kitchen or preparation area is strictly prohibited.
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Hands must be washed thoroughly with soap and water and dried with a paper towel.
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Avoid touching food with your bare hands when preparing or serving it.
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Always wear plastic gloves or use clean serving utensils when handling foods.
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Do not lick your fingers while handling or tasting food use a spoon instead.
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Do not blow your nose, cough or sneeze over food.
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If any kitchen staff is suffering from vomiting, diarrhoea or other stomach upsets, skin complaints or cuts inform your supervisor immediately.
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Cuts and abrasions must be covered by an easily detectable waterproof medical strip e.g. bright yellow colour.
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Any raw food like chicken, meat, pork etc. must never come into contact with cooked / ready to eat food.
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Chefs should never use raw eggs in cooked preparations.
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Never use the same equipment or working surfaces for raw and cooked ready to eat foods without thoroughly cleaning and disinfecting them first.
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Use cutting boards according to their colour code; Green Cutting Board = Vegetables Only, Red Cutting Board = Meat Only, Yellow Cutting Board = Chicken Only, White Cutting Board = Fish Only.
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Always put food into appropriate clean containers and cover them.
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Never place or store any food containers on the floor.
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Thoroughly wash all fruits and vegetables before using them.
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Never reuse any of the food coming back from the guest.
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Never mix old food with new.
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Reheat cooked food preparations in small portions and at least at 80° Celcius.
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Hot food must be kept at above 63ºC during display or the holding area.
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Always use a clean, calibrated and sanitized probe thermometer to measure temperatures.
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Cooked food preparations must be chilled rapidly under cold running water or by spreading on a clean tray to avoid bacteria.
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Label raw and cooked food preparations before putting them into the fridge or freezer.
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Never freeze defrosted food again as it might cause contamination and bacteria buildup.
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Regularly monitor the temperature of fridges (0°-5°) and freezers (-18°) at least once a day.
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Always use the FIFO [First in - First out] method in fridges, freezers and storerooms.
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Ensure proper labelling procedure are followed to adhere to the FIFO method.
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The Executive chef should monitor the daily and monthly cleaning schedule report.
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Always handle cleaning chemicals with care and store all chemicals away from food.
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Remove garbage frequently but in any case after the night shift.
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The kitchen stewarding area should be kept clean and tidy at all times.