Here Are 5 Of The Most Common Health Violations In Restaurants

One of the most chilling signs one can see outside a restaurant is a notice that it has received a failing grade on a health and safety inspection. This may be devastating for the owners and workers since the resulting fines and possible closures can damage their reputation and livelihoods, but it's also upsetting to customers who may worry that they've put their health at risk. These inspections, typically carried out by local health departments, check for numerous health code violations on a regular schedule, which may vary from one jurisdiction to the next but could occur up to four times a year.

Some violations might appear more serious than others to those not in the restaurant industry, but each one plays an important role in helping to prevent the spread of foodborne illness. (If you've ever suffered from food poisoning, you know what a nightmare that can be.) With food recalls steadily rising in recent years, health inspectors may help to ensure that unsafe foods are removed from restaurant kitchens, but recalled foods aren't the only challenges restaurants regularly face. The following include some of the health code violations that most often cause problems in the industry.

Cross-contamination is one of the most widespread violations in restaurant kitchens, and it occurs whenever bacteria are spread from one surface to another. It can be a problem for home cooks, as well, with one study published in the Journal of Food Protection showing that the most contaminated items in your kitchen may be your spice jars.

In restaurant kitchens, bacteria transfer may take place directly between foods, an example being when raw chicken is kept in the refrigerator above another item and its juices drip down onto that surface. It can also take place via utensils, as would be the case if that raw chicken were to be chopped with the same knife on the same cutting board that's later used for vegetables without proper sanitization. Yet another instance of cross-contamination might occur if a glass is used as an ice scoop since this might result in the ice being contaminated by glass chips.

One way restaurants can help to prevent cross-contamination is by providing separate utensils for preparing raw poultry and reserving them for this use alone. It may even help to color-code them: The green cutting boards and knife handles are for chicken, while the red ones for produce. It's also important to ensure that the proper tools are used for the proper jobs (e.g., an ice scoop for scooping ice). These utensils must not be stored with food, though, because that same ice scoop may itself become a source of contamination if allowed to stay inside the ice machine.

In a restaurant kitchen, food storage is always a major issue of concern to health inspectors. We touched upon this briefly under the heading of cross-contamination, and indeed, there's a very specific order that food needs to be placed in the refrigerator. (Take note, as it might be beneficial to adopt a similar system for home use.) Any ready-to-eat foods belong on the top shelf of the refrigerator or walk-in cooler, while seafood comes next, then raw beef and pork, ground meats and fish, and at the very bottom, any type of raw poultry, whether whole or ground. No foods of any kind should ever be kept on the floor, as this would be considered a health and safety violation.

As well as stacking refrigerated items in the proper sequence, it is also necessary for restaurants to keep all foods in containers certified as safe for commercial food preparation. These containers should also be labeled and dated. That way, any expired foods may be readily disposed of, plus the restaurant staff will also be able to employ the first in, first out (FIFO) method of making sure that foods are used up before they have a chance to go bad.

Restaurant kitchens, needless to say, must be clean to be safe. While there are numerous cleaning steps that need to be performed multiple times per day, kitchen staff also need to perform deep cleaning on a weekly or monthly basis. If they fail to keep up and allow sanitation standards to slip, well, the thing about health inspectors is that restaurants don't always know when they're coming, so slipshod sanitation is a frequently seen issue. Even though restaurant customers seldom see how clean a kitchen is or isn't, they're nevertheless deeply affected by restaurant cleanliness. Not only can dirty kitchens lead to cross-contamination (see above), but they might also breed mold or attract pests.

On a daily basis, not only must all dishes be washed, but cloth items (towels, aprons, et cetera) must also be laundered. Food prep areas and sinks must be sanitized, and any appliances need their exterior surfaces wiped down. All beverage dispensers need to be cleaned. Floors should be swept and mopped, trash taken out and disposed of, and the trash receptacles disinfected.

Every week, the ovens require a thorough cleaning, as does the deep fryer. The walk-ins, too, should be disinfected and the floor drains cleaned. The refrigerator coils must be cleaned monthly, while the vent hoods could stand a good scrubbing a few times a year. Even the ice machine needs to be unplugged, cleaned, and disinfected every six months to prevent it from breeding bacteria. The list of tasks may seem endless, but that's the price you pay for food safety (not to mention, passing the safety inspection).

With all of the cleaning necessary in a restaurant kitchen, it stands to reason that many different kinds of chemicals may come into play. These, too, can be a common source of health inspection violations. One major issue is having any of these chemicals in close proximity to food, even for an instant. They should also not be stored above food or anywhere near food, for that matter. Cleaning chemicals should also be clearly marked as such. Whether they are in their original packaging or have been transferred to separate spray bottles or containers, they must always be labeled as to their contents.

It is also important that the proper chemicals be employed correctly. They need to be used in the proper concentration in order to sanitize as advertised (test strips will help to ensure this), and they must also remain in contact with the surface being sanitized for at least ten seconds. Cleaning chemicals are most effective when used with water between 55 and 120 degrees Fahrenheit.

One safety measure that many restaurants neglect — in fact, the most common violation, according to data shared at the 2023 Food Safety Symposium — is something that seems, on the surface, fairly innocuous: failing to ensure that employees wash their hands. Unclean hands, however, can pose a serious threat. According to the USDA, the number one cause of the foodborne illness called shigellosis or bacillary dysentery is salads prepared by restaurant employees with subpar hygiene. Best handwashing practices start with separate sinks provided for this purpose and stocked with antibacterial soap and paper towels. Employees should be instructed to scrub for at least 20 seconds using warm water.

Other good employee hygiene habits that healthy inspectors like to see include having workers wear gloves and hair coverings at all times and removing any jewelry that could be a source of contamination. It also helps to have restaurants supply uniforms or at least aprons since that way they can ensure that these items are laundered on a regular basis. Employee beverages should be kept covered as well, while employee food and drinks should be consumed in specified areas set aside for that purpose.