This guide outlines the leading food industry compliance issues that all people in the food and beverage sector should be aware of.
The food industry is highly favorable to female entrepreneurs. One analysis found that 43.7% of all restaurant owners are women, which is much higher than the percentage of women that are entrepreneurs in other industries. Many women are drawn to the food industry because it does not carry the same sexist stigmas against owners that other industries do. However, they have to contend with some additional challenges instead. For example, the failure rate for restaurants and cafes is among the highest of any business. According to the National Restaurant Association data, 30% of restaurants don’t survive for more than one year.
Why food industry compliance is key to success
There are many reasons that restaurants struggle. One of the biggest is that restaurant owners struggle to deal with food industry compliance issues. If you are a restaurant or cafe owner, you will need to be aware of the best practices for food industry compliance. Some of the most important steps to meet compliance standards are listed below.
Safety in for food industry compliance
Make sure employees follow a food safety checklist. Food safety compliance is one of the most important aspects of running a restaurant. State and county health inspectors usually visit restaurants about every six months, so you have to be ready for them. You can’t afford to make any mistakes regarding food industry safety. Even seemingly minor health code violations could cause your restaurant to get shut down. You could also face very steep fines that could wipe out your profits for months.
Unfortunately, food safety violations in the restaurant industry are more common than most people think. For example, one study found that 62% of restaurant workers didn’t wash their hands or use gloves before handling ground beef. The best way to deal with this issue is by creating a checklist for your employees to follow. Food safety checklist should be taped around the restaurant so employees can easily find them.
The food industry safety checklist needs to cover some of the important tools that employees need. This can include using a temperature indicator to make sure all food is at the right temperature to kill harmful pathogens, as well as ensuring the use of equipment made from superalloys resistant to corrosion to maintain hygiene standards and equipment durability.
Dealing with injuries
Keep records of all injuries that take place at your restaurant. Your restaurant can be liable for any injuries that occur on your premises. It doesn’t matter whether it is a customer or an employee that is injured. Penalties for injuries can be more severe if you don’t follow the proper protocols afterwards. In addition, federal law requires that all employers document any injuries that occur.
Injuries are a lot more common at restaurants than many other businesses because of the unique safety risks involved. Employees can easily injure themselves while cooking or handling knives. On the other hand, customers might suffer from burn injuries if hot liquids are spilled on them. You need to be aware of the safety risks involved and be prepared to document any incidents.
Invole staff in compliance
Delegate safety compliance tasks to different people on every shift. Safety compliance policies are far more likely to fail when nobody is accountable for them. For example, people on your shift might notice problems but believe they are not their responsibility. As a result, the problem never gets resolved until an accident occurs or an inspector slaps your restaurant with a violation.
You must make sure that somebody is responsible for overseeing your compliance policies. For example, a shift manager or another designated employee needs to be empowered to correct any issues that occur on any given shift.
Serving alcohol
Regularly remind employees about the need to check the IDs of any customers purchasing alcohol that might look underage. It is illegal for anybody under 21 to purchase alcohol in any state in the USA. While people under 21 are legally liable for buying alcohol, the seller is also subject to civil and criminal penalties. This is a risk that you cannot afford to take as a restaurant owner.
You must regularly remind any of your employees about the need to verify the age of anyone purchasing alcohol. They must be harshly told that they cannot make exceptions for people they know. Let them know that they risk their jobs and possible criminal penalties for selling alcohol. They must also hear that the restaurant could lose its liquor license or go out of business, which would put all of their coworkers out of jobs.
Data protection in the food industry
Don’t overlook the importance of customer data protection. When most people think about restaurant regulatory compliance, they usually think about avoiding food safety risks or accidents. However, the need to prevent a cyberattack is something they rarely think about.
However, restaurants are subject to the same data privacy and protection regulations as any other business. You have to make sure that you use antivirus software, firewalls and other safeguards to prevent cyberattacks.
Implementation of food industry compliance
Compliance measures need to be implemented appropriately. It is a good idea to involve all staff in the discussions about compliance, and even have them make suggestions about how to ensure the rules are properly implented, communicated and followed. By doing this, you allow the team to take on responsibility for their roles in implementation, and thus ownership and price in ensuring that all the food industry compliance regulations and policies are followed.
Conclusion
You worked hard to become a female restaurant owner. However, you can’t afford to overlook the importance of meeting compliance standards. The guidelines listed above should help minimize the risk of regulatory fines and other problems.
