7 Ways to Clean a Rochester area Restaurant so it does not Fail a Health Inspection
1) Mold
One of the most common reasons Rochester New York area restaurants fails their health inspections is mold. You might be thinking, How can they fail for having mold when I have it in my house? Just because you have mold in your home doesn’t mean that it isn’t incredibly harmful. If left untreated, some types of mold can spread quickly and cause illness.
2) Sanitize
To sanitize your restaurant kitchen and dining room, don’t forget sinks and drains. These items tend to be overlooked and can become breeding grounds for harmful bacteria if they aren’t sanitized regularly. They must be cleaned with hot water, soap, and bleach every night, including dumpster areas outside of back doors.
3) Clean Your Ventilation Ducts
Commercial kitchen appliances, such as ovens and refrigerators, harbor bacteria and pose a risk of foodborne illness when left unclean. It’s essential to clean these appliances regularly to prevent contamination of your food and restaurant supplies. Depending on use, a thorough cleaning should occur once every week or two. Before cleaning, unplug your appliances and allow them to cool completely. Then, you can wash any removable parts with hot water and soap or special cleaner recommended by the manufacturer for that appliance. If nooks and crannies in an appliance won’t be removed during cleaning (such as corners in an oven), leave out one cup of water mixed with 1/4 cup bleach overnight; then wipe clean with paper towels before using again.
4) Clean your kitchen appliances
In commercial cleaning, appliances are often overlooked because they aren’t as visible as other parts of your restaurant. As a result, bacteria can build up and create serious health risks. Remember that even though it might be out of sight, that doesn’t mean you should take its cleanliness for granted. If you want to maintain good relations with health inspectors and avoid an unpleasant situation, thoroughly clean your kitchen appliances once or twice per year. It will pay off in big ways! For example, it could save you thousands in hospital bills from food poisoning.
5) Disinfect surfaces
It’s important to disinfect surfaces thoroughly. This is because pathogenic bacteria can live for up to 72 hours on surfaces in your restaurant, even after you’ve cleaned them. The best way to do this is by using an EPA-registered hospital-grade disinfectant. Many people use bleach as a substitute, but bleach isn’t effective at getting rid of E coli and other harmful germs, which leaves you vulnerable to health inspections. A hospital-grade disinfectant will remove all dangerous pathogens from your restaurant before an inspector checks out your business.
6) Clean your floors
A clean restaurant is a healthy restaurant, and one of the most important ways to do that is by cleaning your floors. Use a commercial-grade floor cleaner, mop, and brush for best results. Once you’ve got some elbow grease, it’s time to think about thoroughness—you want your mop or broom on every inch of your space. Consider buying an automatic scrubber for best results in restaurants with high foot traffic or lots of outside entrances.
If you’re looking for a quick and easy way to increase your health inspection score, look no further than your floor. Floors are one of the dirtiest things in your restaurant. To make sure you keep your floors clean.
7) Employees Must Wash Their Hands and Wear a Mask
The most crucial step in preventing foodborne illness is training employees to properly wash their hands and wear proper personal protective equipment, like gloves and hairnets. The health inspector will look for these things when they do an inspection. If you skip out on enforcing hand-washing or if your employees are not sanitizing hands well enough, you’ll likely fail your inspection.
