Foolproof Tasks For ServSafe Food Managers That Will Prevent Pests

Foolproof Tasks For ServSafe Food Managers That Will Prevent Pests

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Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

Pests should be a concern of ServSafe food managers all year round, but we’re in unique times that may draw more pests to your food establishment than normal. Pests like raccoons, rats, mice and even black bears are seeking out new sources of food during cold weather. If you factor in reduced operations at many businesses due to COVID-19 restrictions, retail outlets, food businesses and other industries are producing less waste and less garbage forcing pests to range further and even move indoors to search for food. With the possibility of these pests becoming more aggressive in their quest for a free meal, what should ServSafe food managers do to prevent winter pests out of their establishments?

Tasks For ServSafe Food Managers That Will Prevent Pests
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ServSafe Food manager’s Guide to Preventing Pest Infiltration

When taking preventative measures against pests entering your food preparation facility, evaluate your entrances, dumpsters and outdoor dining areas. If animals are attracted to the exterior of your building, there’s a good chance they’ll be able to find a way inside.

ServSafe food managers should get into the habit of regularly scheduling staff to inspect and clean outside areas to prevent pests. With more outdoor dining due to limited indoor seating capacity, there’s more potential for food to be dropped or spilled. A messy outdoor dining patio will attract pests.

It’s also important to make sure dumpsters and garbage areas are also free from debris. You can also lock your dumpsters after hours to prevent larger urban mammals from rummaging through your trash. If they are unable to find sustenance in your trash, they’ll likely move on.

If you’ve taken care to keep your outside areas clean, it’ll be a helpful deterrent but may not give you total protection against pests entering your facility. ServSafe food managers should design pest prevention procedures to ensure the following happens every day:

  • All interior garbage cans are empty
  • Counters and floors are cleaned and sanitized
  • All unpackaged inventory is stored off of the ground

Even if it’s just inside the kitchen, a full garbage can attract pests such as rodents and insects. Dirty floors and countertops release odors that attract unwanted visitors and become a breeding ground for fruit flies, gnats and other bugs.

Finally, make sure inventory such as produce is stored as far off the ground as possible. Ground level fruits and vegetables can be an open invitation.

Have you taken extra precautions to keep pests out of your food preparation areas?

ServSafe Managers Delivering Holiday Takeout Meals

4 Simple Tips For ServSafe Managers Offering Holiday Takeout Service

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With the current COVID-19 crisis and the limits on large gatherings in public places, we predict that many families who traditionally eat their holiday meals in restaurants will choose to order their family dinners for takeout rather than dine in a restaurant or banquet hall. Cooking and packaging large dinners for holiday festivities presents a challenge for food managers who may not be accustomed to this type of service. This week, we’ll take a look at how ServSafe Managers can overcome those challenges and offer advice on how to make sure the holiday takeout dinners you provide are safe from foodborne illness.

ServSafe Managers Delivering Holiday Takeout Meals
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How ServSafe Food Managers Can Provide Safe Holiday Takeout

For most of the year, takeout is pretty simple. A customer calls in their order and then it’s prepared for either delivery or ready when a guest arrives to pick it up. The process for holiday style dinners will have to include a more detailed plan due to the nature of these types of meals. Turkeys, hams and pork roasts take much longer to cook, side dishes must be produced in greater quantities and restaurants will require much more hot-holding space if they wish to provide heated Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners to their guests. So how can ServSafe managers pull off holiday takeouts safely?

Here’s a few suggestions:

  • Require a deadline for pre-order
  • Provide defined pickup and delivery times
  • Package hot product in reasonable portions
  • Offer ready-to-cook meals

Preparing, cooking and packaging large meals is a huge endeavor, but you can make it easier by having an exact count of how many meals you’re required to prepare. Setting a deadline before your food supplier’s last delivery date before the holiday can give you an advantage. If you fail to adhere to a strict deadline, you run the risk of running out of product to fill orders or simply not having the production capacity to cook and prepare meals in the event of a massive influx of families looking for last-minute solutions. It’s also helpful to have precise times for guests to pick up their meals. This allows for an easier pace and will ease any congestion should we still be under COVID-19 capacity restrictions around the holidays.

In order to keep food safe from the spread of bacteria, it’s important to prepare food in reasonable portions. Most restaurants don’t have the hot-holding equipment to keep large amounts of roasts, turkeys, and hams out of the danger zone. Keeping reasonable portions on hand will allow you to prepare more food throughout the day and slice and package during the appropriate pickup window. Offering ready-to-cook meals is another option to reduce food-safety risks. If your customers can grab prepped meals and heat them at home, this will reduce your need for hot-holding and still provide an unforgettable holiday experience.

Do you plan on offering Thanksgiving, Christmas or other holiday meals for delivery and takeout?

Servsafe MN Guide to Outdoor seationg during COVID-10

ServSafe MN Guide to Outdoor Seating and COVID-19

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With the gradual reopening of business in Minnesota, restaurants, bars and eateries have been given the go-ahead to begin sit-down service as long as all seating is outdoors and meets certain criteria. Today, we’d like to give you a brief overview as to what the rules are concerning outdoor seating during this phase of reopening Minnesota during COVID-19 and provide a few ServSafe MN tips on how to serve your customers better under these regulations.

ServSafe MN Guide to Outdoor Seating
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Outdoor Seating and ServSafe MN Tips During Corona Virus

Minnesota restaurants are able to serve guests in person starting June 1st, but it’s important to emphasize that all seating must occur outside. Here’s a quick breakdown of outdoor seating regulations:

  • Reservations are required
  • Employees must wear masks, guests encouraged to wear masks when not eating
  • No more than 50 total people, guests and staff, on the premises
  • Tables must be separated by at least six feet
  • No more than four guests from different households at one table, up to six if all members reside together

The interesting thing here is that guests must have a reservation before arriving at your restaurant. This can be hard to accomplish for restaurants who are not normally accustomed to taking reservations. Make sure that you space out reservations to ensure there is little chance for an overlap that creates a situation where several guests may be forced to congregate near your restaurant with other guests who may not be in their party.

Masks have been required since restaurants were given the ability to provide takeout service, so hopefully your staff will be used to wearing them by now. The unfortunate part is that now there will be more interaction with guests and the mask presents a communication issue. If you have access to a portable POS system such as a table-top kiosk or tablet where guests can place their own order, this may smooth the process and allow diners to place their order remotely. Please note that regulations ask you to recommend guests wear masks when not eating.

Finally, make sure that all tables are six feet apart. This recommendation doesn’t exclusively refer to the physical table itself, but the table and the space guests occupy around it, so you may wish to provide a little extra buffer room for guests to maneuver in the outdoor dining area. These tables cannot be occupied by more than four guests unless they are from the same household, then you’re permitted to seat up to six at the table.

Make sure that your staff is trained in the current ServSafe MN sanitation guidelines before you open with outdoor seating, and hopefully, Minnesota will soon be on the path to recovery and a thriving restaurant industry.

Sanitary ServSafe Procedures for Curbside Pick Up

Sanitary ServSafe Procedures for Curbside Pick Up

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As you are aware of by now, the State of Minnesota has asked all food service establishments to close dining rooms and reduce service to takeout or delivery only. This presents some new challenges for ServSafe food managers who are used to maintaining food safety procedures in dining rooms rather than in the parking lots. With these new challenges, we’d thought we’d provide a brief guide on how to not only keep your food safe from the normal foodborne pathogens but from the emerging threat of the Coronavirus.

ServSafe Procedures for Curbside Pick-up

ServSafe Tips for Curbside Pickup

We have a few simple steps you can take to protect your guests and staff during these trying times:

  • Eliminate all bare hand contact
  • Increase handwashing frequency
  • Offer ways for customers to pay in advance
  • Provide curbside service rather than allowing guests in your facility

Managers already know that ready-to-eat foods cannot be handled with bare hands, but we suggest taking this one step further until our state returns to business as usual. ServSafe procedures should require staff to wear food service approved gloves when handling cash or cards and even consider wearing gloves when delivering curbside takeout to your customers. This will prevent bare hand contact with contaminates on money and give your drive-up guests the sense of security that you’re taking their health very seriously.

Handwashing is now more important than ever. Wash your hands after every personal interaction or contact with cash. Remember to wash for 20 seconds with plenty of soap and hot water. For timing purposes, you can sing the “Happy Birthday” song twice, or find other catchy tunes that last for at least 20 seconds.

Some of your guests and staff may be leery about spending too much time in close proximity to strangers. You can help reduce the amount of time your employees and customers must interact by providing a method of prepayment by credit card either on your web page or by telephone.

Finally, the best way to ensure that the COVID-19 virus doesn’t enter your facility would be to close the inside areas altogether. Change your ServSafe procedures to meet your customers or at the curbside as much as possible with a quick handoff of their order. Providing a phone number for them to call or text once they arrive will smooth the delivery process.

Are you taking extra steps to keep your guests safe during this crisis?