Noble Professions

We wouldn’t think of going to a plumber to have a medical operation performed, or an electrician or an insurance salesman to have our annual physical.  No, when it comes to medical care, we want to be sure that the physician attending to our most precious resource, our body, is licensed, skilled, operating with the proper tools in a clean and safe facility.

The same is true of a food operation.   Just as we expect in our medical care, we should be operating our restaurants, markets and schools with the same seriousness and conscientiousness of a fine surgeon.  It's all about the health of our customers.  And just like a doctor, we need to take the necessary precautions at our job to ensure that customers leave our establishment as healthy or healthier than when they first walked through our door.

Let’s take a look at the parallels between 2 very different professions, and compare the seriousness and importance of proper procedures that a doctor uses in his/her job to that of a foodservice worker.  How alike they really are, in many ways.

1) The facility    

The first time you walk into a doctor’s office or hospital, you get an impression of the quality of care you will receive.  The cleanliness of the floors, walls and examination tables, the friendliness of the nurses and support staff, spotless lab coats and uniforms, bright and cheerful lighting, and clean fresh atmosphere all help to communicate that. Are they equipped with state of the art technical equipment that can provide you with the medical tests that you need or are they more in the dark ages, with dingy lighting, tired worn surroundings and out-dated equipment?

A restaurant gives the same impression to a customer walking through the door for the first time, and first impressions are the most lasting ones.  Your sanitation practices have never served you so well. Create a great impression by meticulously clean floors, properly stocked restrooms, lighting conditions that provide the ambience you want in your particular facility,  employees with neat appearance, clean uniforms and  attention to customers’ needs. 

2)   Tools   

Both doctor and chef equally need the necessary tools to do their job right. Let’s look at the Tool kit that each of these professionals brings to work every day:

Doctor:  Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) such as caps,  gowns and gloves; scalpels and autoclave for sterilizing operating tools;  handwashing sink; hand sanitizer;  Biohazard kit with sponges and cloths to clean spills; sterile surfaces for holding tools; maintenance tools to clean and disinfect operating room afterwards; X-rays and medical records for reference 

during operations

Chef:  Hair restraints, chef coats, aprons, gloves, PPE (oven mitts, cut gloves, eyewear), sanitized knives and kitchen tools, handwashing sink, hand sanitizer, chemical sanitizer/automatic warewasher for cleaning kitchen equipment, biohazard kit for bodily accidents in dining room, color-coded equipment to prevent cross-contamination, mops and buckets/equipment for after hours cleaning, posters and visual aids for reference during food operations

3) Procedures       

The doctor in the operating room is holding your life in his hands.  Similarly, you are holding your customers’ health in the balance, with the foods that you serve and they put into their bodies. The principles of personal hygiene, cross-contamination and time and temperature controls cross over both of these professions.

In a medical setting, handwashing is critical before each patient visit or during hospital rounds, and a doctor wouldn’t even think of using bare hands to perform any medical procedure. In the kitchen, handwashing is also extremely important before starting work and any time hands are dirty, with extra protection from single use gloves for ready-to-eat foods.

A doctor must be sure that the equipment and tools he/she is using with patients are sterilized  before use and in between patients. His/her workspace is also sterile, including the patient’s body itself, even before the knife touches the skin.  A chef must also start with a clean work surface before food preparations, and all cutting boards, knives, pans and other tools must be clean and sanitized before use and after every task.  

Taking temperatures of patients is also routine medical practice to be sure that body temperature is in normal range -elevated temperatures  over 98.6° F indicate the patient may be battling an infection. Similarly, a foodservice  worker taking temperatures of TCS foods during preparation, holding, storage and service is critical to be sure that foods are staying out of the temperature danger zone (41° F – 135° F [5˚C - 57˚C], according to 2009 US FDA Food Code) and bacterial growth is minimized at all times.3-501  

Finally, hospital protocols should be followed at all times, just as Standard Operating Procedures should be in place as a good foundation in any foodservice operation.  Proper methods for Cooking/Cooling/Reheating foods, Receiving, Storage, Personal hygiene, Reputable suppliers, Chemical usage, and methods for preventing cross-contamination and temperature abuse should guide establishments daily.

4)  Training

In both the medical profession and the foodservice industry, training is the key to prolonged safety. Medical professionals not only receive extensive education but also pursue continuing education to keep up their credentials and stay current with new treatments and practices.  You notice those diplomas hanging on the wall?  They are comfort that you are in the company of a well trained professional. Their support staff, nurses, orderlies and administrative staff should also be proficient in their duties.

Similarly, the foodservice professional should be qualified in food safety procedures and keep their training current in many areas, including Food Manager Certification, allergen awareness, culinary techniques, at a minimum.  And this training should continue as new regulations are implemented or good practices are adopted in the industry, perhaps training in HACCP, Food defense or Recalls.  Training of all staff should continue as changes are made to the food code in your jurisdiction (FDA Food Code is updated every 4 years) or as employees, equipment and methods change in the workplace.

5) What can go wrong?

The risks of not following proper procedures can be disastrous in any profession. Whether it is a doctor or chef who is using unsafe equipment or tools, dangerous consequences can result. If a physical object is accidentally left inside a patient or carelessly contaminates a food product, it can sicken the individual.  If liquids, blood, vomit or other bodily fluids are allowed to remain on floors after an accident in an operating room or a food facility, dangerous slips and falls can result. 

Further, such spillage in an operating room can lead to hazardous pathogens spreading to surrounding areas and pose huge dangers to doctors, patients and attending staff.   In the kitchen, spilled foods, grease and debris can also imbed into crevices of equipment and floors, a perfect breeding ground for flies, rodents, pathogens, biofilm and food contamination.  Subsequent lawsuits, medical costs, media attention and patient/customer illness and dissatisfaction can escalate and be devastating to any business.

As food professionals, we need to take our jobs just as seriously as a physician.  We wouldn’t want doctors to contaminate us with loads of bacteria as they are taking out our spleen. Just as you wouldn’t any chef to serve you old outdated chicken contaminated with dirty hands and a healthy dose of Salmonella, covered up with a sauce breeding Clostridium perfringens. Your customers trust that you are handling their foods with care, just as you put your trust in your physician.  Keeping foods cold, datemarking and properly rotating them, cooking and cooling them to keep bacteria at safe levels are basic good practices.

We need to keep our foods well protected at every step in the flow of food, in kitchens stocked with proper tools and gloves, implementing handwashing, personal hygiene, temperature controls, cross-contamination prevention, equipment maintenance and sanitation. Your staff should be as well-trained as a medical professional, carrying out safe foodhandling procedures every day, so that customers are protected from the foods that they consume and enjoy at your establishments. 

And just as people do with a revered family doctor, with whom they’ve developed a good relationship and stick with for life, your customers will refer you to their friends and relatives. They will look to you with respect, thanks and satisfaction, and be a devoted customer for life.