Refrigeration is essential for some foods. Many farm animals carry bacteria in their guts which can cause Listeria, Salmonella, Campylobacter and E-Coli, these are capable of causing death. No one ever places a side order for such horrible diseases or even a mild bout of food poisoning.
10 Foods That Must Have Refrigeration:
- Pre-prepared salads.
- Pre-prepared sandwiches.
- Cooked shellfish.
- Smoked fish.
- Pate.
- Raw meats.
- Cooked or cured sliced meats.
- Soft and blue veined cheeses.
- Eggs.
- …And milk, unpasturised particularly.
Food can look and smell as though it’s fit for human consumption even after its use by date but bacteria could be growing as you’re lulled into a false sense of security. Never risk using any refrigerated food past its use by date. You know better than that.
Double check what the fridge temperature dial says
The Food Standards Agency advises that all refrigeration should be checked with a fridge thermometer and set below 5 degrees celsius. The dial in the fridge cannot always be relied upon for the accurate temperature. The cooler the storage temperature, generally speaking the slower bacteria will multiply. Bacteria starts to grow at around 8 degrees and frozen stock leaves bacteria dormant until the food thaws and the bacteria reactivates. Air should always be available between items because a fridge cannot work effectively when it is overfilled.
A check on the FSA website revealed that Listeria suspected in goats cheese caused a food alert in October 2020, so too did Salmonella fears in cooked mussels. Don’t assume that it’s always someone else who has a problem with food safety.
Why businesses try to be uncool
The truth that refrigerated food must remain refrigerated seems obvious, however, in the right circumstances business owners, landlords and chefs take extraordinary chances with public safety, either because they’ve found themselves in a crisis or a location where they assumed there would be facilities, during a refurbishment or planned maintenance, to avoid an expenditure or because they don’t remember the rules.
You might argue that trading is difficult enough right now without having extra expenses to factor in like additional or emergency fridge capacity through fridge trailer rental or cold room hire but increased takeaway orders, when your dining-in guests can rise in number again, even slightly, or a breakdown of on site facilities, you need appropriate measures. Excuses and Covid-19 outcries won’t help you when the HSE or FSA have cause to call on you if someone falls ill or worse thanks to a food item from your premises, takeaway or eaten in-house. The unthinkable may still happen, even in lockdown.
Remember, your normal fridge or cold room hasn’t heard about Covid-19 and the implications it’s having on your stress levels and profit column so if it’s overfull or cuts out, it won’t respond to any of the swear words you throw in its direction.
No to risks, yes to a great reputation
Please don’t take risks; bacteria is not your ally and the costs of causing illness or death to a consumer, the legal ramifications and the HSE and local authority investigation that could close you down permanently, not for a lockdown, are far greater than a competitively priced, appropriately sized fridge trailer or cold room hire from a firm like Berkshire based Icecool Trailers. Consider whether you need a static unit or a moveable one on wheels. A cold room is installed and cannot be moved once assembled until the hire period is over, fridge trailer rental units can be relocated if necessary. Did you know that hire units are available in a range of sizes, staff can work in them without contravening legislation and your hire can be for as long or as short a time as you need, you can extend it easily with the best firms. Plus, trailers and cold rooms are more economic than hiring fridge vans and they can be positioned wherever you require them, even if that’s in a car park, a school hall, an entrance foyer, outside the kitchen door. Flexibility is assured and facilities are cost effective so risks just don’t make sense.
When you take the right measures, sourcing maintained, fully functioning, legislation meeting refrigeration hire your conscience is clear. You haven’t played Russian Roulette with a member of the public’s health and as there is nothing to complain about, your reputation is also unstained. Don’t be the eatery that no one goes to anymore because Mrs Smith fell ill after eating your dish of the day.
Stay safe.
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