Commercial Kitchens Biggest Mistakes!
When you own, run or even work in a commercial kitchen there are certain protocols one must follow to ensure the health and safety not only of your staff members but anyone who comes into your business for a meal.
As we have mentioned before, word of mouth spreads quickly and with the increased use of social media it will not take long for your food joint to be punished with negative feedback. Believe us when we say people will avoid and refuse to enter your place of business simply based on your reviews!
I have a series of photos I would like to share and under each photo, I am going to explain why these are MUST NOT in a commercial kitchen
Correct Disposal Of Empty Boxes & Food Packages
What we have here is a perfect example of a pest harbourage area. By not correctly disposing of boxes you are inviting pests into your restaurant. These pests could include and are not limited to cockroaches, spiders, rats, mice, silverfish just to name a few.
Ensure all discarded goods are done so correctly, by minimising external “junk” you are removing the pest invitation.
Ask yourself this, if a customer was to see these images, or come across this would they really want to dine in your restaurant?
Did you know that the majority of German cockroaches infestations that are in commercial kitchens are actually brought in on deliveries? Cockroaches thrive in areas such as these that can be seen below.
The images we have here are also ideal breeding grounds for rats and mice, providing an easy food source, comfort, and warmth from the cardboard boxes.
Entrance Points
The photo below shows where rats have been chewing on a wooden door to gain access to the property. Owners should be checking their premises on a regular basis for any entrance points that could allow pests to enter into your place of business. Holes such as those below can easily allow rats, mice, and cockroaches into your building.
Entrance points that we are talking about could be anything from holes in windscreens, foundation issues, a small hole in the corner of the wall or even a door that does not seal correctly!
ANY entrance points such as this need to be fixed immediately.
Cleanliness
Yes I saved the best for last.
I have one question to ask, would you eat from a stove like this at home? Would you allow your children to eat from a stove that clearly has not been cleaned forever, that has a grease build up that that if you were to touch your finger would do one of two things, stick to it or slide right off?
If you as a business owner answered NO, then how on Earth can you allow your customers to eat from a stove like this?
By keeping your cooking equipment in this state you are placing the health and safety of anyone who comes into your store at risk, not only of food poisoning but in severe cases death!
Could you sleep at night knowing that your mere laziness and professionalism caused someone to die?
Time and time again we walk into restaurants that have equipment in this state and sometimes even worse, and yet they are complaining they have pests. If you did your part and keeping up with the maintenance and cleanliness of your shop you may not have invited the pests into your commercial kitchen.
We cannot emphasise enough on how cleaning is the most important aspect of any pest control program, and by cleaning we don’t mean just surface cleaning. You need to have in place a regular full cleaning program which includes moving fridges, stoves, microwaves, freezers & cleaning behind, under and inside them!
Never leave food scraps out, clean up any spills immediately & keep the floors clean of food!
You would be surprised by how much pest infestations could be reduced simply by proper cleaning!
For pest control to be effective, it is a two way street, when you are advised to make changes to the structure of your building, you should follow these directions!
We can treat your pest issue successfully, but if you are inviting pests into your business then there is only so much that pest control can do.
