December marks Worldwide Food Service Safety Month. Since there are few products as widely enjoyed across the globe as coffee, Houston’s has chosen to explore the reasons why properly cleaning equipment is so vitally important to a cafe’s investment, to the health of its consumers, and to the integrity of a coffee’s flavor.

The Flavor Impact

Most coffee establishments thrive on delivering a great-tasting brew. In this competitive industry, it’s often important to set an individual flavor signature apart from the multitude of other businesses vying for the consumer’s palate. However, that expertly refined flavor may be in jeopardy if you don’t take the proper precautions.

When coffee beans are roasted, they generate a natural oil. When the bean is ground, those oils are expressed and can coat the inside of grinders, french presses, espresso machines, or any equipment it comes into contact with. The problem is that this oil will continue to build, introducing new and increasingly bitter flavor to any coffee that passes through the equipment. Even if you’re using the best coffee in the world, it won’t be any good if you haven’t been regularly and thoroughly removing this excess oil.

The Health Implications

Almost all coffee equipment has dark, moist compartments that are used to either hold or make coffee. Coincidentally, dark and moist environments are perfect for mold and bacteria to grow and thrive. In as little as a few days, these toxins will begin to multiply and reach numbers that can make people sick. Sneezing, coughing, headaches, and congestion are all common symptoms of mold exposure, and it’s not uncommon for illness to get worse from there.

Many people assume that the heat generated by the coffee creation process is enough to kill any lingering toxins, but that’s simply not the case. As much as 50% of bacteria will withstand the high temperatures of a coffee maker and continue to multiply without proper cleaning. To prevent any chance of food-borne illness, it’s important to clean your equipment daily, and not just by running parts through the dishwasher. A deep clean, using specially designed cleaners, is the only way to ensure the equipment is properly sanitized.

The Bottom Line

From hiring the right staff, to choosing the best beans, a lot of hard work goes into establishing and maintaining a cafe. A good deal of money goes into it as well. Coffee equipment isn’t cheap. It also doesn’t clean itself. An unmaintained piece of machinery is going to have a shorter lifespan, and that degree of negligence could break the budget for any cafe, independent or otherwise. However, by taking the necessary steps to purchase and utilize safe and appropriate cleaning solutions, the liability of malfunctioning equipment can be minimized.

Urnex has been around since 1936, helping roasters and brewers to continue delivering fantastic coffee. The specialty coffee market is now booming, and Urnex is still here to keep the brew at its best. Houston’s is a proud supplier of Urnex products that have been designed to reach and resolve every element of a coffee maker’s sanitization needs. For those who are new to making clean coffee a priority, we even offer the Urnex System Cafe Starter Kit. It doesn’t have to be too late to make the change.

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1. You don’t know everything and what you don’t know can cause problems. Management should always stay abreast of the latest and greatest ways to control risks, and pass that knowledge on to employees. Consistent training is imperative!
2. A systematic approach to food safety will bring success to your operation. Track performance, and provide ongoing training and feedback to all employees.
3. Don’t fear the dreaded health inspector. His/her objective eye is just what your restaurant needs to stay on top of the game. Learn from the mistakes that have been made. As the comedian Steve Harvey says, “Failure is a great teacher.” Use your mistakes to improve!
4. Cleaning is more than just wiping down the surfaces. Management and employees should understand the chemicals they use, how they work and what will cause them to be ineffective, and should follow the directions precisely, always resisting the temptation to cut corners.
5. Establish standards for cleaning and sanitizing, and then have the tools for each cleaning job readily available to the employees who will use them. Pass the standards on to employees, and ask questions to ensure appropriate use. Management should have a plan in place for taking corrective action when necessary.
6. Stations should be cleaned as employees return to them (from lunch, from break, etc.), and then as often as necessary. This includes knives, cutting boards, other cooking gear, and surfaces. Remember that ice is food; handle it correctly during transport and keep the station clean during storage!
7. Storage is ultra-important! Ready-to-eat food should always sit above raw items. ALL items should be properly wrapped and covered, in food-grade containers, to protect from juices splashing. Cracked containers, or containers with crevices, should be promptly discarded—the blemishes harbor bacteria.
8. It is imperative that management plainly communicate food safety standards to all employees. Storage space should be routinely checked and employees held accountable for their areas.
9. Your walk-in cooler and/or freezer should be a work of art. Show it off! Use accessories and various lid options for organization—think square, rectangular, and clear! Visual appeal aside, the organization will allow employees to see problem areas at a glance.
10. Many factors contribute to cross-contamination, including refrigerator and microwave handles, oven door handles, restroom door knobs… High touch-points are often glossed over, but should be disinfected often. And although cleaning these items is an effective way to reduce cross-contamination, improved hand hygiene is always a best bet.
11. Monitoring food temperature starts at the loading dock and does not stop until the food is served in the dining room. Know the correct temperatures for foods as they are received, being stored, being prepared, being held, as they are cooling, and as they are reheated. Do you know the proper procedures for cooling foods? Learn them and follow them to ensure food safety for your guests.
12. Ask yourself two questions: Does your staff have the correct thermometers available for the job and have they been properly trained to use them? Thermometers can be reliable sources of information but only if used correctly. And what is done with that information matters. Record. Review. Make sure management and employees know what is happening with temperature of product.
13. When taking temperatures, precision is key. Analog thermometers are great, but digital thermometers offer up a higher degree of accuracy (yes, pun intended!) And new technology allows you to log in to a computer to remotely check on temperatures. It’s worth checking out.
14. Record time and temperature. Automate whenever possible, but if this isn’t an option, utilize forms to help you track the data. Crunching the numbers will help you to be more aware of what happens to the temperature of different foods at different time intervals, resulting in higher quality, safer foods for your guests.
15. Personal hygiene. Let me say it again: personal hygiene! Cleanliness and healthiness is all-encompassing and vitally important in any restaurant. Management, set a good example for your employees by practicing thorough hand-washing techniques. Don’t show up to work sick, and don’t allow your employees to work while sick. Unclean habits and illness can and do lead to contaminated food.
16. Did someone say hand washing? This is a crucial factor in food safety, and it cannot be stressed enough. Train employees on proper technique and then audit to ensure compliance. Make certain employees are not touching handles or door knobs after washing hands and before handling food. The use of gloves should not be allowed to give a false sense of security. How are gloves taken off and put back on before handling food? Cross-contamination can occur so make certain employees are trained on proper procedure for putting on and taking off gloves. When all is said and done, common sense should be your guide.
17. And since good hand washing is so important, so, then, are hand sinks. You can’t clean your hands too much when protecting against foodborne illnesses! And even better to clean them with a nail and hand brush. Keep sinks well-placed and well-stocked to ensure they are easy enough to use that there are no excuses for noncompliance.
18. Uniforms should be as clean as the hands. Stress the importance of clean kitchen clothes and clean aprons. How wounds or cuts are dressed is an equally essential. Learn the proper guidelines for covering injuries and then enforce them. And common sense dictates that jewelry not be worn when prepping food, for obvious reasons.
19. Another element of food safety is allergy. Key to preventing food allergies is keeping diners informed about ingredients in each menu item. Sharing information with your guests and staff will build customer confidence in your restaurant. When the front and back of the house teams work together to ensure allergy safety, patrons notice and everyone wins.
20. Finally, utilize color to prevent cross contamination. Purple has been designated the universal color to aid with allergen management. Foods stored and prepared with purple tools used only for allergy-sensitive consumers significantly reduce the risk of cross contamination. Your customers’ confidence in your operation will show by their willingness to return.

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