Food safety must be taken seriously at every level. If you own or manage a restaurant, taking a shortcut here or there can result in serious illness/injury, a tarnished reputation, severe legal penalties, and even a complete shutdown. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) updates its Food Code every four years to set guidelines for local governments and those in the food industry to follow. This document includes recommendations on matters like standards for food storage and facility cleanliness, the frequency with which restaurants should be inspected, levels of training for health inspectors, safe cooking temperatures for various items, and more. It’s crucial to stay updated on these FDA guidelines and state laws to ensure that your restaurant remains compliant. Having a grasp on these guidelines will also help you take the right steps to keep your facility safe and healthy for staff and customers.

Let’s go over five essential services your restaurant needs to keep it health department compliant.

How to Ensure a Restaurant Is Health Department Compliant

1. Commercial Floor Care Services

It’s easy to take your flooring for granted during the hustle and bustle of restaurant activity. However, floors can quickly become inundated with dirt, germs, food material, and other contaminants. If you fail to clean your floors on a regular basis, this contamination can reduce your facility’s indoor air quality (IAQ) and even begin to affect the food itself. Health concerns aside, clean, sturdy floors are also essential for employees and customers safely getting from point A to B inside your restaurant. Health inspectors will examine your floors closely, so it’s crucial to invest in quality commercial floor cleaning services.

2. Restaurant Janitorial Services

Of course, your facility’s floors aren’t the only surfaces that require regular cleaning. Every inch of your restaurant (i.e., bathrooms, kitchens, dining areas, etc.) must be held to a certain standard of cleanliness to remain not only aesthetically pleasing but also sanitary for everyone inside. This commercial restaurant cleaning can be completed in a number of ways -- you might have in-house staff handle various cleaning tasks during operating hours and outsource dedicated janitorial services after hours/before opening.

3. Disinfection Services

Though many states have begun lifting various restrictions related to COVID-19 on the CDC’s recommendation, last year’s novel pandemic reminded every industry of the importance of proper disinfection protocols -- especially the food industry. Even if your restaurant is back in action now, it’s a good idea to continue certain disinfection practices you’ve established over the past several months. With vaccination rates reaching a stalemate and the highly transmissible Delta variant on the horizon, no one can predict what the future might hold. Maintaining a sanitary facility can only benefit your business, customers, and staff in the long run.

4. Equipment Maintenance

Without functioning cold storage, appliances, and other key equipment, your restaurant would struggle to preserve its inventory. Even if you have backups available, you probably can’t afford to run into a major malfunction, especially if it means tarnishing your food products. Proper preventative maintenance is required to keep these incidents from happening so your operations don’t come to a halt and your people stay safe and healthy.

5. Trash and Debris Removal

Restaurants create a lot of waste. While it’s best to find ways to reduce this waste as much as possible, there’s no getting around the fact that food, supplies, and other material will need to be disposed of at various intervals. This trash and debris cannot remain on the premises for too long, as its lingering presence can attract insects and rodents, create an awful odor, and reduce your restaurant’s air quality. Make sure you have a system in place for gathering garbage and having it removed from your location in a timely and safe manner.

Maintaining a safe, healthy, compliant restaurant is no small feat. Partnering up with a full-service provider like The Budd Group can make it much easier to do so. We offer janitorial, disinfection, trash removal, maintenance, floor care, and many other services to a wide variety of industries, including restaurants. To learn more about our services and values, give us a call today at 800-221-8158!