Due to socio-economic changes, street food is in great demand. Most people patronize street vendors due to the low cost and accessibility. There’s also an argument about the unique taste and friendliness of their meals.
However, street food or not, every meal should contribute nutritional benefits to buyers. Chefs and vendors must ensure the food they serve to customers is safe to eat.
That said, the tips below will help your street food business comply with safety standards:
What Is Food Safety Compliance?
Before considering food safety compliance, you should know what it means. Food safety is the act of ensuring that your food is safe for consumption through tools such as food x-ray inspection systems. It involves various activities that help to deliver healthy and hygienic food services to buyers.
In most countries, food safety is the responsibility of a recognized food standards agency. The agency establishes laws that ensure food sold by vendors is safe to eat. These laws also look into the quality of food vendors provide.
In cases where vendors fail to comply with safety standards, food safety agencies withdraw or recall their products and inform customers of their stand on the products. By doing so, consumers can avoid them. These actions are targeted towards enabling food vendors to achieve food safety compliance.
Why Street Food Safety Compliance?
The growing popularity of street food makes safety compliance much more critical. Street food businesses must adhere to food safety practices. Failure to do so increases the risk of contamination and delivery of unhygienic food services. More so, food becomes unsafe and unhealthy for customers.
The effects of eating contaminated food can be devastating. It can make customers ill, cause severe injuries, and in extreme cases, threaten life. The risks are even more significant in highly vulnerable people such as children, pregnant women, the elderly, and individuals with allergies.
The goal of any business is to make a profit. However, proper hygiene and safety measures must be practiced. This way, both vendors and customers can enjoy positive benefits from the business.
How To Achieve Food Safety Compliance
To have a thriving street food business, you must ensure proper food safety compliance. Here are seven tips for achieving food safety compliance:
1. Acquire High-Grade Raw Materials
Food preparation begins with raw materials. As a foundational stage, you must get things right here. Food vendors use a variety of raw materials, each with its own composition and quality.
Some vendors, in a bid to save costs, purchase low-quality raw materials. As a result, their end product fails to comply with food safety measures.
Instead of opting for low-grade raw materials, acquire the best. Ensure you obtain raw materials from known and reliable sources. You should also ensure every raw material you purchase is in good shape. By doing so, you can be sure of a qualitative end product.
2. Provide Proper And Safe Transportation
Proper and safe transportation is often critical to the safety of street-vended food. When food is not adequately transported, it increases the risks of toxin formation and the growth of microorganisms. Therefore, you need to see to it that it’s done properly.
You can ensure safe and proper transportation if the vehicle used for transport is clean. The vehicle mustn’t carry animals or toxic materials alongside the food. If you’re traveling long-distance, then ensure you keep the food within the range of temperature that prevents microbial growth. This will prevent food spoilage and loss of taste.
3. Process And Prepare Your Food Carefully And Correctly
Food preparation and process is the next step after acquiring the raw materials you need. This is also an important aspect to consider for food safety compliance. Food processing methods include cooking, frying, grilling, and baking. When processing your food, there are measures to take to achieve safety.
Primarily, you ensure there’s no contact between raw materials and foods consumed without further heating. This is because such contact leads to contamination. Also, see to it that you wash foods eaten raw (e.g., fruits and salads) and grains very well. And while cooking, examine your food correctly and remove any physical hazard you spot.
4. Keep Your Sales Premises Clean
Before selling, endeavor to keep your sales premises free from dirt and substances that can cause contamination. Provide adequate illumination and protect food items from sun, dust, rain, and wind.
You shouldn’t use your sales premises for other activities that can cause contamination or hazards. If you cannot eliminate the risks of contamination around you, cover your food well to protect them from contamination.
When you’re patronized by high-risk customers such as students and the elderly, see to it that your premises are in a safe condition. And if you sell in high-risk environments such as schools and hospitals, be more intentional with your safety practices.
5. Practice Consistent Cleaning And Sanitization
Regular cleanliness helps eliminate agents of contamination such as pests and garbage. You should keep your food preparation, machinery, and equipment clean. Ensure you properly dispose of every form of waste. You should save leftovers for feeding animals rather than storing them with non-food waste. Liquid waste should be emptied into sewers or drains, and the solid ones should be kept in well-covered containers.
Make it a culture to dispose of your waste daily. You don’t have to wait till they’ve amassed into large quantities. After disposing of waste, clean your bins and apply disinfectants where necessary.
6. Educate Your Staff Sufficiently
Make it a priority to train your staff in complying with food safety practices. Some of the areas you should focus on are food preparation, food storage, waste disposal, and pest control. They should understand the importance of food safety while showing them ways to reduce the risk of contamination. This way, you can have all hands on deck working towards safety compliance.
Meanwhile, training shouldn’t be a once-and-for-all thing. You should train your team consistently to keep them updated on the latest food safety practices. Also, training lets them discern overlooked safety measures crucial to compliance.
Conclusion
As street food gains popularity, safety compliance cannot be overemphasized. Food vending shouldn’t only bring profit but also make consumers healthier. By complying with food safety measures, both street food vendors and customers benefit immensely. With the steps recommended in this article, you can be sure of running a safety-compliant street food business.
