Alto-Shaam 500-E/Deluxe manual S A Nit Atio N, 1-88 8-SAFEFOOD

S A NIT ATIO N

Food flavor and aroma are usua lly so closely relate d that it is diff icult, if not imp ossible , to separat e them. There is also an important, inseparab le rel atio nship bet ween cle anliness and food flavor. Cle anli ness, top ope rating efficien cy, and appearance of equipme nt con tribute con sid era bly to savory, appe tizing foods. Good equipm ent tha t is kep t clean, works bette r and last s longe r.

Most food imp arts its own parti cular aro ma and many food s also absorb exis ting odors.

Unfor tuna tely, durin g this absorption, the re is no disti nction between GOOD and BAD odors. The major ity of obje ction able flavors and odors troub ling food ser vic e operation s are caused by bacte ria growth. Sourn ess, ran cidit y, musti ness, stale or oth er OFF flavors are usual ly the resul t of

ger m activity.

The easiest way to insure full, natu ral food flavor is through comp rehens ive cle anliness. This means good control of bot h visible soil (di rt) and invisible soi l (ge rms). A tho rough approach to sani tation will provide esse ntial cleanline ss. It wil l assure an attrac - tive appearan ce of equ ipme nt, along with max imum efficiency and utili ty. More importantly, a good sani - tation program pro vides one of the key eleme nts in the pre vention of food-born e ill nesses.

Acon trolle d hol din g environ ment for prepare d foo ds is just one of the import ant factors involv ed in the prevention of food-bo rne ill nesses. Tem peratu re mon itor ing and con trol durin g recei ving, storage , preparation , and the servic e of foods are of equal impor tance.

The most accu rate method of measu rin g safe temper - atures of bot h hot and cold foods is by inter nal prod- uct tem pera ture. A quality therm ometer is an effec - tive too l for this purpose, and shou ld be routinely used on all produ cts that req uire holdin g at a spec ific temp erature.

A com prehe nsi ve sanitation program sho uld focus on the tra ining of staff in basic sanitation proc edur es. Thi s includes person al hyg iene, proper handling of raw foods, cook ing to a safe intern al prod uct temper - ature, and the rou tine monitori ng of internal temper - atures from receiving thr ough ser vic e.

Most food -bo rne illnesses can be preven ted thro ugh pro per tem pera ture control and a compre hensive pro gra m of sanitation. Both these factor s are impor - tant to build quality ser vice as the foun dation of cus- tomer satisfaction. Safe food handling prac tices to pre vent food- bor ne illness is of critical impo rtanc e to

the hea lth and safety of your cust ome rs.	HACCP, an
acr onym for Hazard Analysi s (at) Critical	Control
Points, is a quality con tro l program of operatin g pro -
cedur es to assu re food integr ity, quality,	and safety .
Taking ste ps neces sary to augme nt food safety prac-
tices are both cost effecti ve and relatively	simple.

Whi le HACCP guidel ines go far beyond the scope of this manual, additional information is avai lable by conta cti ng:

Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition Food and Drug Adminis tration

1-88 8-SA FEFOOD

INTE RNAL FOOD				P RODU CT			T EMPE RAT URE S
			HO T FO ODS
DA NG ER ZONE				40° TO 140		°F		(4° TO 60°C)
CR IT IC AL ZONE				70° TO 120		°F		(21 ° TO 49 °C )
SA FE ZON E				140 ° TO 16		5°F		(60 ° TO 74 °C )
		COLD			FO ODS
DANG ER ZO NE				ABO VE 40° F				(A BOVE 4° C)
SA FE ZON E				36 °F TO 40° F				(2 °C TO 4°C)
	FR OZ EN FOODS
DANG ER ZO NE				ABO VE 32° F				(A BOVE 0° C)
CR ITICA L ZO NE				0° TO 32° F				(- 18° TO 0°C)
SAFE ZO NE				0° F	OR BELOW			(- 18° C OR BELOW)

Opera ti on a n d C are M a nu a l • 12.