Hygiene in the Hospitality Industry: What Do You Need to Consider?

If the coronavirus pandemic has shown us anything once again, it is how important good hygiene is for preventing the spread of disease. This is particularly true—not only in the medical field—but also in the hospitality industry and food processing. After all, the consequences of inadequate hygiene can be serious, especially here. 

As a restaurateur, you have probably woken up more than once in a cold sweat from a nightmare in which inadequately chilled mayonnaise caused salmonella or a chef with a gastrointestinal illness infected half of all the guests. 

To guarantee you worry-free nights and counteract such horror scenarios, in today’s blog post we take a look at hygiene in the hospitality industry—from its importance and the legal regulations to some practical tips.

Hygiene in the Hospitality Industry: Legal Foundations

Strict hygiene regulations have applied to the food sector for decades, precisely because of horror scenarios such as salmonella, spoiled food or employees infecting guests.  The importance of this topic is evident from the fact that the European Parliament decided in 2006 to harmonize the individual national laws: the Food Hygiene Regulation (EC) No. 852/2004. The Regulation (EC) No. 853/2004 supplements the Food Hygiene Regulation with specific hygiene requirements for food of animal origin. 

However, there are of course still  national regulations, such as the Food Hygiene Regulation (LMHV) and the Animal Food Hygiene Regulation (Tier-LMHV). 

These four regulations on hygiene in the hospitality industry cover matters such as food storage with regard to temperature, humidity and light, as well as personal hygiene, work clothing and staff training. As a responsible restaurateur, you are of course familiar with the contents of these regulations and have implemented them in your business.

Hygiene in the Hospitality Industry: HACCP Concepts

The implementation and observance of hygiene regulations in the hospitality industry are primarily achieved through HACCP concepts in accordance with Article 5 of the Food Hygiene Regulation No. 852/2004: 

“(1) Food business operators shall put in place, implement and maintain a permanent procedure or procedures based on the HACCP principles,

and shall provide evidence of compliance with this requirement.”

What Is an HACCP Concept? 

HACCP stands for “Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points Concept”, meaning hazard analysis and critical control points. It is a binding, internationally recognized self-monitoring system used to analyze and manage hygiene risks. Essentially, the HACCP concept is based on the principle: “Danger recognized, danger prevented.” 

The regulation’s seven sub-points (a–f) form the seven steps that every HACCP concept must contain:

• Identifying hazards
• Determining critical control points
• Defining limits for control points
• Defining and carrying out checks
• Defining corrective measures
• Defining regular verification procedures

If you have any further questions about HACCP concepts, the Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK) offers an excellent overview of this topic on its website.

What Is an HACCP Concept Used For?

HACCP concepts are designed to prevent both illnesses and injuries that may occur in connection with food. Based on businesses’ own monitoring, they supplement standard basic hygiene in the hospitality industry.

The aim is not only to meet legal requirements and avoid potential fines, but above all to be able to offer food that is safe for consumers.

Hygiene in the Hospitality Industry: Practical Tips

Hygiene in the hospitality industry covers many different areas and is a complex matter—from personal hygiene and hygiene during delivery to hygienic storage and work areas. Since we cannot cover every aspect in this article, we have selected two of them and would like to share some practical tips with you:

Practical Tips for Food Hygiene

Food hygiene can make or break your business. That is why you should pay particular attention to the following:

1. Cutting boards: Use different cutting boards for different products. This is particularly important   when processing raw meat or raw fish. 
2. Freezing: There are also several things you can do wrong when freezing fresh products. Did you know that raw minced meat products should not be frozen? Or that frozen products lose quality after two months?
3. Deep-frying: To ensure the hygiene of frying oil, it should be changed regularly and never heated above 175°C.

Practical Tips for Personal Hygiene

A high level of personal hygiene is also required when handling food. On the one hand, you as an employer are obliged to provide your staff with sufficient training on hygiene in the hospitality industry. On the other hand, your employees are also required to maintain adequate personal hygiene.

1. Work clothing: As already mentioned in the article “Clothes Make the Person: Workwear in the Hospitality Industry”, we recommend uniform workwear that not only meets hygiene requirements but also enhances the company image.
2. Work or safety shoes: It is not only clothing that is important for hygiene, but also suitable footwear. That is why we have developed an outsole that is resistant to dirt.
3. Illness: Make it clear to your staff from the outset how dangerous it can be to come to work sick in the food industry. Make sick leave and days off easier to arrange to prevent your employees from coming to work despite being ill.

In general, even small steps can go a long way when it comes to hygiene in the hospitality industry. For example, you can significantly improve kitchen hygiene by making clogs—that is, shoes without laces—mandatory. They are easy to clean and less prone to collecting dirt, as we explain in the article “Comfortable Work Shoes Without Laces for Professionals”. 

Do you need help integrating suitable footwear into your HACCP concept? We will be happy to help—simply contact us here.