What do you do if you're asked about food safety and sanitation during an interview?

As a chef and culinary consultant, I emphasize the highest standards of food safety and sanitation, reflecting my extensive training and global experience. I implement protocols like regular staff training, adherence to regulations, and proactive hygiene practices. Examples include: 1. Digital HACCP Systems for real-time monitoring. 2. Quarterly Safety Audits and annual staff certifications in food safety. 3. Stringent Supplier Vetting to ensure ingredient quality. I’m dedicated to ensuring a safe, high-quality dining experience for all guests.

It starts with ensuring the right temperature to inhibit bacterial growth, preventing cross-contamination, and employing correct handwashing methods. Knowledge of the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) system showcases a methodical approach to recognizing and managing potential risks throughout food handling and preparation, ensuring safety at all stages.

Like everything in life...it has to make sense! Safety and Sanitation is part of the culinary arts world. It all starts in the back door. If the food that is delivered is not up to standards, then you are already loosing the battle! I used to check the truck and the driver before I even allowed them to deliver. Common sense, if the truck and the driver are not clean then the food/items I ordered were probably mishandled, time/temperature abused or miss treated. With that philosophy, you must run your kitchen. Follow the HACCP plan and you will guarantee food safety. Have at least two or more workers with a ServSafe Manager certificate per shift. Keep logs of your FIFO's, cooler temps, and create a opening and closing cleaning list.

Product contact surfaces must be considered as an important tool that may prevent contamination. It is direct but indirectly keep emphasis on proper ventilation to avoid condensation. The old system states, product must be looks clean, smells clean and feels clean. Recently much emphasis is given on HACCP, SSOPS and SPS. PBIS is the source of inspection where every day tasks are picked up randomly to verify SPS, SSOPS, HACCP etc.

In addition to that it is imperative to understand the link between sanitation and food safety. In simple terms , how does poor sanitation impacts food safety? With this information you have a solid foundation to build on in terms of answering the rest of the questions.

EIAO training is very vital to assess whether the establishment is under compliance. It should meet the regulatory standards. Establishment should take GMP measures to ensure sanitation standards are met their own by swabbing the clean product contact surfaces and enumerate APC / square inch. By establishing certain number would indicate the baseline .

In my experience of the interviews , it is important that you share how you have implemented your knowledge that you have gained from training in trying to ensure food safety including relevant pieces of legislations that relate to food.

Have training tools/ resources available. Make sure the training is effective. Measure trainings efficiencies & effectiveness with KPIs in regular basis. There many food safety programs are available such as online food safety training/ ACF resources/ servsafe etc. It is very important that there is a consistent practice going on with these courses/ training.

This - right here in REAL TIME - is an example of someone (me) realizing that I didn't know something that could be incredibly essential to my job. @SureshDua (below) just thwarted me with EIAO lexicon; I had to go research half of what he wrote! But the point is: I went and looked it up. Knowing what you don't know, and then doing something to better your knowledge, is really half the battle in food safety. It is constantly changing and evolving - especially now with all the new technology. If you feel like you're behind? Join the club! The willingness to learn, the willingness to CORRECT IN REAL TIME (especially during an inspection), and the realization that it will never stop thwarting you, is the is the enigma that is food safety.

Sometimes real life stories are a great way of learning/ training/ educating teams. Incidents/ outbreaks stories, what went wrong & what could have done from not happening. I often share my experience of working in the cruise, how they maintain food safety standards, USPH inspections etc. which are always well received by fellow teams.

In my humble experience working in many places i found that all the restaurants give almost a priority for wearing the gloves eventhough i found that to be safe the gloves should be used in the correct way which i found it a big challenge to teach the staff to do it correctly.

Bring statistics to the table to illustrate the importance of food safety or what poor food safety has done at global level, regional level and national level. Highlight incidences of food safety and its impact on the community.

Even someone who is a novice at food safety standards can be integral at implementing it. Coming with no habits - instead of bad habits - is easier for an employer to train. Any employee who shows willingness to learn and comply with food safety regulations has a good chance of growth within a company. And that's not to say you have to be a watchdog or "police" your fellow employees, but leading by example, understanding its dire importance to our foodservice industry, and being able to spread the education to your colleagues in a positive way, is priceless to an employer.

Add five key principles for food safety by World health organisation and try to bring out their meaning in terms of application. Also highly your observations of how people conduct themselves when preparing and how does that impact food safety

This one is really important. It's not just about showing up in a clean uniform and wearing your hair net. It's about being an ambassador of wellness to your establishment, your fellow employees, and to your customers. Little things like checking your phone, and then going back to work without washing your hands and changing your gloves, is just one of the many (seemingly "little") ways in which we spread big bacteria around a kitchen. Things like: length of facial hair, when to change or remove your apron, stashing a kitchen towel - even your CUP OF WATER - can be in violation of health codes. It's a lot, but it's important to know. Caring about compliance (instead of dismissing it) shows you have major potential to an employer.

Implementation of proper food safety regulations is a key factor. Ensure that there are training materials & resources are readily available for the team. Monitoring food safety regulations are being followed by the team in regular basis is mandatory. Creating a good food safety culture is a very essential. Having food safety champions within the team. Recognition & rewards to those who are doing exemplary things on food safety would be a great way to boost the momentum.

Proper training is essential part of the job. Make familiar with handling of product sanitarily, by washing hands, sanitizing knives, changing soiled uniforms, leave the uniform hanging on the specific rack before using toilet and proper handwashing. Manufacturing good practices are key issue.

In addition, don’t forget the legal framework which gives existence to your practice(your profession) preferably from Constitution of the country down. Understanding legal framework means understanding your powers in ensuring food safety