1. [FOOD SAFETY]
48 RESTAURANT HOSPITALITY OCTOBER 2015
I
HAVE BEEN professionally involved
in sporting events where thousands
of meals were served in permanent
facilities, such as football stadiums,
and in temporary facilities created for
a major golf tournament. These experi-
ences have provided a unique oppor-
tunity to compare the food safety tech-
niques of contract feeders accustomed to
working in a high-volume environment to
independent foodservice operators who
occasionally take part in off-site events.
Typically, independent restaurants prepare food in
their existing kitchens and transport it to an event, or
they transport raw food product and cook at the event.
Simple enough, right? In fact, far too many fail to show
an adequate understanding of the risks involved in pro-
viding off-site foodservice. In many cases, if I had been a
local health department official, much of the food deliv-
ered and prepared at these events would not have been
allowed into the various venues.
Some of the more extreme examples have included:
• Transporting food in vehicles without temperature
control. Sushi delivered in the back of a van at 75°F to a
reception is not acceptable.
• Delivering food within the temperature danger zone
(41°-135°F), with no record of how long it had been at
that temperature. Raw or cooked chicken delivered at
60°F is not acceptable. A cooked, pulled pork product
delivered at 90°F is not acceptable.
• Delivering raw and ready-to-eat food with no equip-
ment other than chafing dishes and Sterno. Chafing
dishes warmed by Sterno cans, are approved for hot-
TheDanger
of Operating
Off-Site
Just because you’re a pro at restaurant
operations doesn’t automatically make
you an expert off-site. By Steven Sklare
holding only and not for reheating.
• Many foodservice operators set up shop at an off-
site location without being properly equipped to clean
and sanitize food contact surfaces during the event.
Cross-contamination from unclean surfaces to food,
according to FDA, is one of the five major contributing
factors to the occurrence of foodborne illness. Without
an adequate supply of cleaning materials and sanitizer,
there is no way to properly protect against cross-
contamination. You must be able to clean and sanitize
food-contact surfaces as they become soiled.
• A lack of available hand-washing facilities, food
handlers without hair restraints and an inadequate
supply of food-grade disposable gloves or utensils to
handle food are other frequent violations.
I’ve seen these bad practices in different parts of the
country, which leads me to believe the behavior de-
scribed represents a general misunderstanding of food
safety rgulations. What should you do?
If you have made the decision to have an off-site cater-
ing component of your business, you need to have an
off-site food safety management plan (FSMP). Recognize
that to have an effective off-site food safety plan, you
must first have an effective on-site FSMP.
The off-site plan needs to take into account the dif-
ferences between preparing meals in your kitchen for
customers sitting in your dining room and preparing
SAFETY FIRST:
Are you properly
transporting food
to events?
PHOTOGRAPHY:THINKSTOCK

2. [FOOD SAFETY]
meals for customers who are in a remote location miles
away. The plan also needs to recognize that the funda-
mentals of food safety are not somehow magically sus-
pended because you are taking food to another location.
In fact, there are additional rules and procedures to take
into account.
The plan: Make sure you have an on-site food safety
management plan to keep food safe up to the moment it
leaves your primary facility.
The off-site food safety management plan:
• Document the condition of the food when it leaves the
building. If it leaves the building in an unsafe condition you
are not going to fix it when you arrive at your destination.
• Document the condition of the food when it arrives.
• Document how long the food is held and displayed.
• Document what is done with the food that is not con-
sumed within predefined time periods.
Transportation:
If you are transporting food that must be temperature
controlled while in transit, use a temperature-controlled
vehicle or individual temperature-controlled containers.
At the site:
• How will you hold the hot and cold food at the site?
• How will you cook and/or reheat the food at the site?
Food handler personal hygiene:
• What steps are you taking to make sure the proper
personal hygiene procedures are followed?
• Will you ensure that there is no bare-handed contact
with ready-to-eat foods?
• Will there be proper hand-washing at the proper times?
• Is there an adequate supply of gloves, hair restraints
and utensils for the food handlers?
Cleaning and sanitizing:
• Even if the bulk of the cleaning and sanitizing will be
done when you get back to your home base, you must be
prepared to deal with basic cleaning and sanitizing needs
as you are holding, preparing and serving food.
Steven Sklare, REHS/RS, CP-FS, LEHP, is a UL Everclean strategic
business development executive who has been working in the food safety
industry for more than 20 years providing food safety audits and training,
supply chain risk management, food safety management plan design and pest
control services. Steven.Sklare@ulcom.
50 RESTAURANT HOSPITALITY OCTOBER 2015
PHOTOGRAPHY:THINKSTOCK
PREPARE: Food safety doesn’t just happen.
You have to create a plan to keep food safe.