FOOD & DRINK
FOOD HYGIENE OUTDOORS
Summer is the season for food stalls and outdoor catering at open-air concerts and stadiums. But what are the cleaning and hygiene challenges involved with serving up food from a small, cramped stall? Jeremy Bennett from Tork manufacturer Essity considers the problems and comes up with some solutions.
Outdoor dining is booming in the UK. The growth began during the pandemic when eating indoors became difficult - even illegal during some lockdowns.
People tend to appreciate the fast and flexible service they receive from an outdoor food stall, and many like the transparency of being able to see their food being prepared before their eyes. Meanwhile, social media is creating a buzz around the trendier food markets, fuelling the demand for alfresco dining.
Running a food stall is a good option for an enterprising business owner since the start-up cost is considerably lower than that of a conventional restaurant. Chefs can experiment with unusual dishes at a reduced economic risk if the trend fails to catch on.
And interest in diverse food options is growing. The public’s perception of street food is no longer a burger and a bag of chips purchased from the back of a van: it can now cover anything from an Ethiopian stew to a pad Thai, burrito or Swiss raclette.
The market is booming. The convenience, flexibility and affordability of street food dining has resulted in a 20% year-on-year industry growth, with a 2022 Open Table study revealing that 75% of Britons want to see more outdoor dining options in the future.
However, producing high quality meals on a stall can be significantly more challenging than doing the same in a restaurant kitchen.
42 | TOMORROW’S FM
Staff members are obliged to work in full view of the public with no back-of-house area in which to hide, for example. Hygiene protocols therefore need to be scrupulously followed because the customer will be watching.
A stall will quickly gain a grubby appearance if crumbs and ketchup spills are allowed to soil the counter. Staff will therefore need to repeatedly wipe down all surfaces to create an impression of cleanliness and order. This task will be made more difficult due to the lack of a mains water supply.
The water issue also makes hand hygiene more difficult, even though frequent hand washing is crucial in any food preparation environment to reduce the risk of cross- contamination.
The space restrictions on a street stall will only heighten the challenge of keeping all surfaces looking sufficiently clean, tidy and uncluttered to satisfy the food inspectors.
According to the Nationwide Caterers Association, inspectors have a clear checklist when assessing outdoor stalls. They want to see adequate hand washing facilities in place plus a means of drying the hands and appropriate equipment for cleaning surfaces. And they also expect all food surfaces to be tidy, safe and easy to clean.
So, how do food stall-holders manage to rise to these challenges?
All cleaning and hygiene products should be easy to use, easy to locate, quick to refill and sufficiently compact to fit
twitter.com/TomorrowsFM
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52
