Preparing For Your Health Inspection

There is one event that can make or break a restaurant - the health inspection. Violating food safety regulations can be a huge setback for a St. Louis restaurant, so preparing for it now can help to make a huge impact. There are several violations to really watch out for, but according to a study by StateFoodSafety.com, the most common were storing cleaning products near areas that come into contact with food, improper sanitation procedures, improper temperatures for stored food, and allowing sick employees to be in the kitchen. As your local commercial appliance repair company in St. Louis, we want to help you ace that next health inspection, so we have compiled a few tips to help.

Stay Up-to-Date on Food Safety Regulations

The FDA has an extensive list of food regulations and codes for every state that is updated regularly. We service areas both in Missouri as well as Western Illinois, so it’s important to make sure that you are following your state's guidelines. Take time to review the regulations and note any changes that have been made - then update your staff and managers.

Locate & Use a Food Safety Self-Inspection Checklist

The CDC and USDA offer free downloadable and printable food safety checklists and guides for restaurants. These checklists make it easy to show your staff the proper employee illness procedures, good hygiene practices, and food contamination prevention as well as caring for the food and cooler temperatures.

Review Your Previous Inspections

After an inspection has been completed, you will be given a report on the findings (we’re sure you already know and remember this). In order to avoid previous restaurant health violations, you can review your last three to five health inspection reports. It could be of value to schedule a meeting with your employees and review the past violations so that you can make a point to not repeat those violations.

Replace Thermometers

When a thermometer ages, they will become inaccurate. You can be assured that your food safety inspector will have a new and properly calibrate thermometer to test your refrigeration units, warming units, and cooked and raw food temperatures. After you have your new thermometers in hand, you can perform spot tests to ensure you are storing and holding foods at the most accurate temperatures.

Deep Clean Your Restaurant

Have you reviewed your cleaning procedures lately? It may be time to update these practices prior to your restaurant’s inspection. If you haven’t done this lately, take a trip through your space starting at the front. Look for anything obvious, and pay attention to those things that are not as obvious signs of dirt, debris, and filth. Check entrance and exit doors, for fingerprints, look under tables and benches for dust, and inspect your food holding drawers. Don’t forget the warming stations, cooking surfaces, and food prep areas.

If you notice any problems from front to back, delegate the cleaning tasks to your staff and review the cleaning checklists.

Ensure Proper Handwashing

This is absolutely paramount in maintaining the success of your kitchen. Make sure that every sink is placarded with instructions on how and when employees should wash their hands. Also make sure that soap, paper towels, and sanitizer are available. Employees should wash their hands after using the bathroom, touching their face or clothes, handling money, and prior to placing food service gloves on their hands.

Perform Routine Maintenance

Finally, it’s important to routinely inspect all critical systems and appliances for the correct function. This is where we come in! Fast Fix LLC can come in and take a look at all of your appliances to make sure that they are both functioning properly and ready for their inspection. Timely maintenance is key in making sure that food is properly cooked, cooled, and stored.

Join Our Maintenance Agreement

We offer maintenance agreements on an individual basis. We can provide an information list outlining what we do to promote the health of your kitchen. One of the hardest things to do in a busy restaurant is to maintain a lot of the equipment that you use daily. With our help, we schedule Preventive Maintenance for your restaurant that includes HVAC, refrigeration, cleaning, and replacing filters throughout your restaurant. Want to learn more? Visit our website! We would love to partner with your restaurant to perform the best appliance service at the Lake of the Ozarks and surrounding areas.

Fast Fix LLC. Restaurant Equipment Service & Repair - 

One Call Does It All! 




Fast Fix LLC. Restaurant Services
3362 State Road JJ
Kingdom City, MO 65262

Columbia: 573-544-0456
St. Louis: 636-327-8349

Location: Kingdom City, MO, USA

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