Food safety standards in the Philippines have always been to the highest standards, with the FDA continuously advising businesses to practice good and safe food handling techniques such as cleaning work stations, maintaining hygiene and preparing food in a sanitised environment to prevent any illnesses or food-borne outbreaks. This not only ensures a safe environment to prepare food for customers, but also to protect restaurant and catering operations.
With the advent of COVID-19 in early 2020, consumers readily became concerned about their health when ordering online from restaurants, meaning that restaurants and food delivery platforms had to amend their food safety and hygiene procedures.
One such restaurant group was Jollibee. Realising that there was a need to go digital to maintain business continuity, the Jollibee Group strengthened its food safety culture further by rolling out its Food Safety Standards and Control Measures for COVID-19 Pandemic nationwide across all its locations. Wally Mateo, Jollibee Group’s Head of Global Quality Management said that there were additional measures instituted to a higher product standard prior to the pandemic, as there is a need to not only protect the health of customers but that of the store and their teams. By evaluating and monitoring proactively, Jollibee was able to stay ahead of the curve and deepen their commitment to customers and their employees.
So what should you do as a restaurant owner, especially for online delivery, to maintain food safety standards?
- Maintain effective hygiene practices.
- Hand washing, sanitizing and cleaning equipment, mask and glove wearing, implementing social distancing.
- Cleaning and sanitizing.
- All eating and drinking utensils should be cleaned and sanitized.
- All food contact surfaces.
- Door handles, fridges, tap handles, switches, glass touchscreens.
- Invest in aggregation technology to reduce unnecessary device maintenance.
- Maintain good personal hygiene, especially hand washing.
- Keep equipment and surfaces clean and sanitized.
- Exclude ill workers.
- Social distancing.
To view the Food Safety Act of the Philippines, click here
