| Bacteria, contaminants, and pathogens are all the | | | | Coded Kitchen Knives |
| enemies of your restaurant's kitchen. It's a battle | | | | The added bonus of using color coded food prep |
| you fight every day. The first line of defense is | | | | utensils is that you also prevent taste |
| controlling the growth of pathogens that could | | | | contamination. No one wants the juices left over |
| make your customers sick. That is best | | | | from a T-Bone mixed with their chicken breast in |
| accomplished through a robust HACCP program. | | | | a white wine sauce. Potential allergens are also |
| Unfortunately, as effective as HACCP is at | | | | effectively separated when you assign specific |
| controlling pathogen growth through temperature | | | | foods to certain colors. Shellfish is one of the |
| management, there are many other areas where | | | | most common culprits; many people can become |
| contamination can occur. | | | | violently ill if their food is in even passing contact |
| The most obvious is through food preparation | | | | with any kind of shellfish. |
| equipment and utensils. Food processors, mixers, | | | | Finally, color coded labels can help your staff |
| and slicers all need to be cleaned regularly with an | | | | select the right product to pull from the walk-in |
| approved sanitizer to prevent cross contamination. | | | | very quickly. Most restaurants use a First In, First |
| As for utensils, cutting boards and knives are | | | | Out (FIFO) policy, which is effective at prioritizing |
| probably the two most likely candidates for cross | | | | the oldest product for first use on any given day. |
| contamination, and it's very important to your | | | | Color coded labels (e.g. red for "use now," green |
| food safety program that you make sure | | | | for "just arrived off the truck," and yellow for |
| different types of food are not coming in contact | | | | "use soon") make sure you minimize spoilage and |
| with each other through the use of the same | | | | use your inventory in a safe but intelligent way. |
| utensils. | | | | Even in the sometimes chaotic atmosphere of a |
| As you know, that's easier said than done in a | | | | busy kitchen at the peak of the dinner rush, clear |
| busy kitchen. Serving food on time is the number | | | | color codes can help staff maintain a high food |
| one priority, and, especially during the rush, your | | | | safety standard that will keep your customers |
| line isn't always thinking about cross contamination | | | | safe and coming back to your restaurant for |
| first, no matter how much you train them. | | | | more. This is especially important in an industry |
| That's why color coded knives, cutting boards, | | | | where employee turnover rates are so high. A |
| tongs, and food labels can really help your kitchen | | | | simple color code system means new hires can |
| staff minimize contamination without affecting | | | | plug into the team quickly without you having to |
| their efficiency. Raw protein products like beef, | | | | worry about food safety being compromised. |
| poultry, and fish typically go with red cutting | | | | Color coding your food preparation process will |
| boards or knives. Raw vegetables go with green, | | | | make your kitchen run more efficiently and |
| and other food types go on white. Many | | | | safely, which means you'll have more time to |
| restaurants will also separate poultry from other | | | | take care of what's really important: your |
| proteins and assign them to yellow utensils.Color | | | | customers. |