Daily food safety checklist for restaurants and cafés
Food safety is the foundation no restaurant can compromise on. One mistake in storage or cooling can cost a business its reputation and its licence. This practical checklist helps you turn the principles into a daily habit.
This checklist is a guide. Always follow the requirements of the food authorities in your country (in Saudi Arabia: the Saudi Food and Drug Authority and the municipalities); they are the reference in case of any difference.
The five principles
Food safety rests on simple principles published by the World Health Organization:
- Keep clean: hands, surfaces and utensils.
- Separate raw and cooked: in storage, preparation and utensils.
- Cook thoroughly: until the inside reaches a safe temperature.
- Keep food at safe temperatures: very cold or very hot, not in between.
- Use safe water and raw materials.
Temperatures: the red line
The danger zone in which bacteria multiply quickly lies roughly between 5 °C and 60 °C. So:
| Situation | Usual target |
|---|---|
| Chilled holding | 5 °C or below |
| Frozen holding | −18 °C or below |
| Hot holding | 60 °C or above |
| Cooling after cooking | Cool quickly; never leave food out at room temperature |
Check the values that apply in your country, and record the temperature at least twice a day for every fridge, freezer and hot-holding unit.
The daily checklist
At opening
- Fridge and freezer temperatures recorded and within limits.
- Prep surfaces and utensils clean and sanitised.
- Soap, paper towels and sanitiser available at hand-wash sinks.
- Staff in clean uniform and hair covering, no jewellery on hands.
- No one showing symptoms of illness works in food preparation.
During service
- Hands washed at the start of work, after touching raw food, and after handling waste or using the restroom.
- Separate boards and knives for raw meat, and others for vegetables and cooked food.
- Raw food stored below cooked and ready-to-eat food in the fridge.
- Every opened product labelled with its preparation and expiry dates.
- First in, first out applied.
- Thawed food is not refrozen, and food is not reheated more than once.
At closing
- Dispose of food past its expiry or holding time.
- Clean and sanitise all prep surfaces and utensils.
- Clean floors and drains and empty the bins.
- Check that fridges and freezers are closed and running.
Receiving and storage
- Check the temperature of chilled and frozen products on delivery, and reject anything out of limits.
- Reject damaged or swollen packaging and products without clear labelling.
- Store everything off the floor, and cleaning chemicals away from food.
Make it part of your system
A paper checklist gets forgotten. It works best when food-safety items are part of the operations manual and of the quality inspection checklist that the inspector measures on every visit. In Oprato, the food-safety chapter is part of the manual, its items are measured in inspection visits, and photo checks can verify the safety gear at each station, such as gloves, hair nets and aprons.