Food Safety Tips for Your Food Truck
If you’ve already started your own food truck business, you probably had to learn the ins and outs of food safety before you could serve your food. As food truck consumers are becoming more and more concerned with where their food comes from and how it is prepared, food truck entrepreneurs need to be extra careful when it comes to food safety practices. Below are food safety tips for your food truck so you can reduce the risk of foodborne illnesses and safety hazards.
Make Sure Your Staff Is Properly Trained
Properly training your food truck staff in safety knowledge is vital to the success of your operation. When you own a food truck or restaurant, health inspectors can surprise you at any time to ensure your safety procedures are up-to-date. If your employees show inadequate knowledge of proper food safety handling practices, a health inspector can fine you a large sum of money, and in some cases, can close your food truck down.
Wash Your Hands Often
One of the major culprits of foodborne illnesses is person-to-person contact resulting from dirty employee hands. If you have a staff of food truck employees, be sure to train them on thorough handwashing practices to protect themselves and your customers.
Wash All Produce
If you have fresh produce stored in your food truck, be sure to hand wash your fruits and vegetables before serving them to guests. Since produce is not always cooked before serving, hand washing your veggies is the only way to remove hazardous bacteria from their surface.
Properly Store Refrigerated Foods
To minimize bacterial growth in your food truck, your refrigerators must maintain a temperature at or below 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Since refrigerated foods can only be stored for a certain amount of time before spoiling, it’s critical that your refrigerators remain at the proper temperature to prolong the life of your food items.
Cook All Foods To Appropriate Temperatures
If you plan on cooking meat in your food truck, ensure all products are cooked to their appropriate temperatures to ensure you have killed any harmful bacteria. The last thing you want is to have a customer complain that their meal wasn’t thoroughly cooked.
Clean & Sanitize Surface Areas
The interior of your food truck should resemble a small kitchen and can contain countertops, cutting boards, stovetops, and tables. If you use multiple surfaces to prepare food in your truck, it’s important to properly clean and sanitize all surfaces that have come in contact with food before and after using them.
Self-Inspect
By taking the time to personally inspect your food truck’s interior kitchen once or twice a month, you can help prevent food safety concerns in the future. Your local health department may have self-health inspection forms you can download from their website, so you know exactly what areas of your food truck pose the greatest safety risks.