If you’re responsible for food safety for a large restaurant chain, then you know that regulations are not consistent across the nation. Instead, You may have to juggle federal, state, and local guidelines, which can be quite a burden.
In our blog post about refrigerator temperature monitoring, we discussed the driving factors behind food waste within the restaurant industry, and we debunked the misconception that restaurants are exposed to liability risk if they donate their leftover food.
Food waste is a pressing issue. Americans dispose of 160 billion pounds of food per year. That’s 40% of all food available, or 730 football stadiums full of discarded but safe food that is still edible. Many restaurants contribute to this waste when they dispose of unsold food at the end of the day.
Food trucks are here to stay. What might have seemed a fad a decade ago is now BIG business. The food truck niche is projected to haul in a whopping $2.7 billion in 2017. It’s not just small players either, many of the largest national chains have trucks on the road, including Dunkin’ Donuts, Starbucks, McDonald’s, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut.
Food needs to be handled correctly from purchase to plate to ensure it’s safe to serve in your restaurants. Safe practices for handling, cooking, and storing food are essential to keeping your customers safe from foodborne illness.
Twenty percent of the total United States’ food supply is imported. To break that down, 70% of our seafood is imported, as well as 35% of our fresh produce. That’s a lot, and it could likely include foods that are being distributed to your restaurants. So, how do we know that the imported food is safe? That’s why we have the Foreign Supplier Verification Program (FSVP).
