How to meet restaurant health-code standards in your kitchen

Food safety and cleanliness are key ingredients to maintaining a healthy kitchen.

No one knows that better than local health departments charged with carrying out daily inspections of thousands of facilities each year, enforcing strict standards set by the state.

The majority of food establishments in Ohio are subject to at least two unannounced inspections annually, according to Jennifer House, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Health. That number may be even higher, based on a local department’s guidelines. If a food service does not correct critical violations in a timely manner, health departments have the power to suspend or even revoke a license.

Ohio’s food safety code does not employ a letter or number system to grade establishments on their inspections, and there are no requirements for a restaurant to post their inspection results for customers to view.

Dr. Catherine Adams Hutt, a consultant for the National Restaurant Association, said she doesn’t think it’s necessary for a state to require a restaurant to share their inspection results in their facilities, as one bad inspection may not represent the facility’s overall performance. Food inspection reports are public record, though, and they can be viewed at local health department offices, she said.

“I think it’s important that restaurants be prepared to be transparent about what they’re doing,” Hutt said. “If a customer wants to know how a restaurant fared in an inspection, that information should be readily available.”

In 2010 alone, Montgomery, Greene, Warren and Miami County health departments conducted more than 15,000 inspections and re-inspections of food service operations and retail food establishments.

A Dayton Daily News investigation found that the four main areas of concern for local health departments in kitchens around the Miami Valley are temperature control, cross contamination, cleanliness and hygiene.

“The average consumer could use these same main four concepts in their food handling in their home setting,” said Alan Pierce, bureau of general services supervisor for Public Health — Dayton & Montgomery County.

With that in mind, here are methods recommended by area health department directors and inspectors to help keep your kitchen in order:

Temperature control

Health inspectors say keeping hot foods hot and cold foods cold is key to preventing the spread of food-borne illnesses, including E. coli and salmonella.

“You shouldn’t be naive to think there aren’t bacteria in the food you eat,” said Aaron Fister, a registered sanitarian for Montgomery County. “There are.”

Here are key tips to ensure your foods are cooked and maintained at proper temperatures:

Cook vegetables at 135 degrees Fahrenheit or above; eggs and steak at 145 degrees or above; pork, beef and fish at 155 degrees or above; and chicken at 165 degrees or above. If you have an item with more than one raw food item in it, such as lasagna with pasta, vegetables and ground pork or beef, you should prepare it at 165 degrees or above. Cooked food should be reheated at 165 degrees.

If a food item has already been cooked and you’re just holding it before it is served, like stew in a crock pot before a party, it needs to be kept at 135 degrees or above.

Food left out at room temperature for more than two hours may enter the “danger zone” — temperatures between 40 and 140 degrees — when bacteria can multiply rapidly. “Make sure if you’re having a picnic, if the food needs to be refrigerated, don’t let it sit out for long time,” said Carrie Yeager, environmental health programs coordinator for the Warren County Combined Health District. “After four hours, it needs to be thrown away.”

Meats, dairies and starchy foods like rice should be kept at a temperature of 41 degrees or less. So, the temperature of your fridge should be at about 38 degrees, and never below 32 degrees.

Be sure to keep custards, cream pies and cakes with whipped-cream or cream-cheese frostings refrigerated. If refrigeration is not possible, do not serve them.

Thaw meats in your fridge, or by running them under cold water. You can also put partially thawed meat in the oven and continue the thawing process as you cook it.

Only defrost food in the microwave if you are going to cook it immediately. “Never thaw at room temperature on your counter,” said Deborah Leopold, director of environmental health for the Greene County Combined Health District. “What happens is the outside of the product begins to warm up much quicker then the inside, and bacteria will begin to grow.”

Always refrigerate or freeze meat, poultry, eggs and other perishables as soon as you get home from the grocery store. If you have to run other errands, be sure to bring a cooler with you to preserve these items.

Separate large amounts of leftovers into shallow containers for quicker cooling in the fridge. Put a label on those items so you can ensure you consume them before they go bad.

Only keep foods that spoil, like meats, dairies and starch foods like rice, for up to seven days, unless they are frozen. Meats shouldn’t be in the freezer for more than six months. Throw away bread and hard cheeses as soon as they begin to mold.

Cross contamination

Health department experts all agree: Cross contamination is a serious food crime that you must avoid. Mixing raw and ready-to-eat foods leads to the spread of pathogens that can be harmful for you and those you cook for.

Here are some ways to avoid it:

Approved sanitizers containing Chlorine and/or “quat” solutions, found in products like Clorox Disinfecting Wipes, are key to avoiding contamination. Wipe down your fridge and microwave door handles and sink faucet nozzles frequently with sanitizer wipes or spray.

When cooking, don’t taste items from a pot with a utensil, and then put it back into the food.

Use different utensils and cutting boards when you’re working with different meats, and when you’re preparing raw meat and ready-to-eat foods.

Use separate plates to handle a food item when it is raw and after it is cooked. For example, if you take raw hamburger meat out to the grill, grab a new plate for carrying and serving the cooked product.

In your fridge and freezer, store raw products on the bottom and ready-to-eat items on top to avoid dripping. Meats should be physically separated from the rest of your food.

Cleanliness

Keeping a close eye on the equipment in your kitchen is just as important as food safety, according to health inspectors.

Below are ways to make sure your fridge, stove, ovens and other devices are in tip-top shape:

Use a mixture of 3/4 teaspoon liquid bleach per quart of water, or one tablespoon bleach per gallon of water, to ensure protection against bacteria on surfaces. Flood the surface with the solution, and let it stand for several minutes. Then, rinse the surface with clean water and air dry or pat dry using fresh paper towels. Bleach solutions lose their effectiveness overtime, so throw them away after one week.

Wash cutting boards, dishes, utensils and countertops with hot water and sanitizer after handling each food item and before preparing the next food.

Cleaning out your fridge often is important, as certain bacteria thrives in temperatures of 40 degrees or less.

Replace your sponges often, and run them through a dish machine cycle after every use. Run dish cloths frequently in the hot cycle of your washing machine.

It is better to use “single-use” supplies like paper towels to clean up messes on your counter or sink, like spilled raw chicken juice. After using a paper towel, go over the area again with a sanitizer.

Don’t use a wood cutting board for meat, as most wood is absorbent and cannot be sanitized well.

Clean frequently behind your stove and oven, and other hard to reach places, to prevent pests. Restaurants usually have third parties come in every month for routine pest control. In your own home, you should watch for pests on a daily basis, and make sure there are no holes or crevices in your walls or floors where critters may hide.

Don’t use equipment that is old and cracked for storing your food. For example, Tupperware or sour cream containers designed to be used once or twice should not be used for any longer than that.

Hygiene

In addition to keeping a close eye on food and kitchen appliances, you need to take the proper measures to make sure you don’t infect your meals. Just as health inspectors always look at employees to make sure their hygiene is up to par, you should maintain standards for yourself, as the head cook in your own kitchen. Here’s how:

Wash your hands with warm water and soap for at least 20 seconds before and after handling food, and after using the bathroom, changing diapers and dealing with your pets. To make sure you scrub for long enough, here’s a tip from Fister: Sing the “Happy Birthday” song slowly to yourself while washing your hands.

Wear gloves if you have any open wounds on your hands. “In your own kitchen at home, you should never handle foods if you have open sores on your arms or hands,” said Jeff Koehl, director of environmental health for the Miami County Health District. “If you do, you should make sure those areas are covered.”

If you have a long beard or long hair, always make sure it doesn’t end up in your food, by pulling it back, or wearing a hat or hair net.

When you’re sick, stay out of the kitchen. You don’t want your harmful germs to contaminate the food you’re cooking for yourself and others.

Sources: Deborah Leopold, director of environmental health for Greene County Combined Health District; Jeff Koehl, director of environmental health for Miami County Health District; Catherine Adams Hutt, consultant for the National Restaurant Association; Jennifer House, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Health; Alan Pierce, supervisor of the bureau of general services for Public Health – Dayton & Montgomery County; Aaron Fister, registered sanitarian for Public Health – Dayton & Montgomery County; Sara Pitts, registered sanitarian for Public Health – Dayton & Montgomery County; Carrie Yeager, environmental health programs coordinator for Warren County Combined Health District.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2086 or jaboyle@DaytonDailyNews.com.