1. Use bare hands to touch raw shell eggs, and raw griddle items such as frozen hamburger patties, steaks and bacon; or partially or precooked griddle items - hashbrowns, ham, sausage links or patties, and chicken breasts, and fryer items - french fries, fish, shrimp, and appetizers. The cooking, or cooking-to-serving-temperature process, will kill and bacteria that your bare hands might bring.

2. Use utensils to touch cooked ready-to-eat foods. Especially after touching raw food items such as raw shell eggs and the other items in #1 above... use the food turner to remove items from the griddle such as cooked pancakes or hamburger patties, and for cooked eggs, slide those from the pan onto the plate without touching them with your fingers.

3. Use bare hands to touch these uncooked ready-to-eat foods but only after washing your hands especially after you touch a raw food item such as raw shell eggs and before touching toast, buns, and sandwich ingredients like bread, cheese, lettuce, raw onions and pickles. So wash your hands, then you may touch these ready-to-eat foods. Note: Alternatively you can use a physical barrier such as tongs, spatulas, or deli paper.

Our having the bare hand contact plan is contingent on us adhering to the procedures above, plus these additional control measures of the plan:

Wash Nails with Brush

When washing hands a nail brush is available at the hand washing sink in order to remove dirt or bacteria from underneath your finger nails. Use the brush at least at the first hand washing at the beginning of the shift.

Double Hand Washing

This doesn't mean washing twice each time. It means washing hands before leaving the restroom, and again when returning to the kitchen before resuming food handling.

Hand Sanitizer

Apply hand sanitizer after each hand washing.

5.  Exclusion and Restriction of Ill Employees

Another element to prevent foodborne illness is the exclusion or restriction of ill employees (with certain illnesses). A food handler that is sick with certain types of illness, can contaminate food or utensils. Therefore, food handlers must notify their manager if suffering from diarrhea, vomiting, jaundice, fever, or sore throat with fever. These employees may may be excluded from work or be assigned to duties that minimize the potential for contaminating food and equipment.

6.  Time and Temperature Control of Foods

This area of food safety refers to how we handle foods being held in refrigeration, outside of refrigeration at room temperature, being cooked or heated, cooled down, or held under heat.

Important concept: Bacteria multiplies rapidly between 41 F and 135 F. This is known as the Temperature Danger Zone.

Any food that is being held in the temperature danger zone for more than two hours such as in: refrigeration that isn't at the proper temperature, outside of refrigeration at room temperature, being heated up or cooled down, or held under heat...  bacteria can grow.

Again, the temperature danger zone is between 41 F and 135 F. We must keep food out of it, or pass through it within not more than two hours. Here is how this applies to varying situations:

8.  Proper Cooking Temperatures

For Food from Raw

While we typically cook these foods to temperature by appearance, such foods are safe for consumption when reaching the following temperatures:

9.  Food Storage Methods

First In First Out (FIFO)

When stock is put into storage it must be placed newest behind oldest. This is the FIFO method: First In, First Out method of food rotation.

Date Marking

Any ready-to-eat potentially hazardous food must be marked with a discard date at the time of opening or preparation. In our operation we apply a discard date of no more than seven days for the following foods:

Desserts:  When placing desserts into the refrigerated display case, date mark each by placing a "USE BY" sticker on each wrapped piece. Add seven days to the current date.

Prep Bins:  When prepping foods such as omelet mixes, French Fries and other frozen items, place a "Date Prepared" sticker on the food bin.

10. Cleaning and Sanitizing (of Food Contact Surfaces)

Cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting are incredibly important to prevent cross-contamination and the spread of viruses. All during the shift, we must keep the clean and sanitized as you go, the food contact surfaces like the grill board and prep tables.

Red and Green Buckets

Green Wash Bucket

The green bucket is filled with fresh hot soapy water from a dispenser. Use the soapy water to wash out soiled wiping towels.

Red Sanitize Bucket

The red bucket is filled with fresh bleach/water sanitizing solution from a dispenser. We keep all washed wiping cloths stored in the red bucket at all times between uses. The red bucket contains a chlorine/water sanitizing solution that must be maintained between 50 and 100 parts per million (ppm). Change the bucket often, at least every 2 hours or more.

Test Strips for the Red Sanitizer Bucket Solution

It's important to test the sanitizer solution in the red bucket regularly. Insert a test strip into the water as follows:

1) Into the water stream as it comes out of the dispenser. It should read 100 ppm.

2) Into the red bucket water. It should read between 50-100 ppm.

11. Food Allergy Procedures

You must have an understanding of food allergies in order to protect customers who identify that they have a food allergy and inquire about the preparation or content of our foods.

Nine (9) Major Food Allergens

Cross Contact and Allergies

As it relates to allergies, cross-contact occurs when one food comes into contact with another food and their proteins mix. One food may contain small amounts of the other food, which is often invisible. Contact may be direct (e.g. cheese on a hamburger), indirect via hands, or from utensils. Even a tiny amount of the allergenic food is enough to cause an allergic reaction in some people. Precautions must be taken to avoid cross contact as follows:

For servers:  Cross contact can occur during the serving process. Unclean hands, splashed or spilled food, improperly cleaned tables, chairs, utensils, shared utensils, apron or uniform pockets.

For cooks:  Shared pans, fryers, grills, counters, dishes, trays, cutting boards and utensils like knives, improperly cleaned equipment, unclean hands or gloves, spills or splattering while cooking, and removing an allergy-causing food from a meal without replacing the whole meal (such as scraping cheese from a cheeseburger instead of making a new hamburger with no cheese).

Symptoms of Allergic Reaction

Customer Who Inform You about a Food Allergy

When a guest informs you that he or she has a food allergy you may need to inform them of ingredients in the foods they are ordering. Be understanding, listen carefully, and answer thoughtfully. If you're not sure of the ingredients it is safer to say "I don't know", and then seek the manager to find out.

If a Customer Has an Allergic Reaction

Call emergency medical services immediately. It is also important to keep the person where they are and not have them stand into an upright position.

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