USDA Certify a Kitchen
Food-borne illness can cause serious legal repercussions when operating any business dealing with food products, whether raw or cooked. Because of serious outbreaks of illness throughout history, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) was given the responsibility of setting up common-sense rules and regulations to ensure foods are kept at proper temperatures, are stored correctly and handled in the most sanitary way possible. All kitchens must pass routine inspections in order to remain operating.
Instructions
1. Read your copy of the USDA food service rules and regulations thoroughly, and apply all of the rules to the establishment of your kitchen. You must typically keep all bagged foods and also goods in buckets a set number of inches off of the floor, setting them on wooden boxes or crates. Pay special attention to the guidelines for plumbing, and that there is ready access to clean, hot running water for all workers. These are where most violations are found during inspections.
2. Schedule a fire suppression system inspection with your local Fire Marshal's office to ensure your system is within current fire department guidelines. Though this is a separate inspection, the USDA inspector will require you to produce a copy of your most recent fire suppression equipment inspection, and you must show it to the inspector when demanded to do so. Failure to have a current inspection may cause you to fail the entire USDA inspection, or it will count heavily against you at the very least.
3. Purchase vinyl food service gloves, hair and beard nets, and hand sanitizer. Have them visible near all working areas within your kitchen at the time of inspection. Failure to have these necessary items on-hand may signal to the health inspector that you are starting off with a relaxed attitude to sanitation, which may prompt your kitchen to be inspected more often than others.
4. Keep all perishable items, such as meats and soft vegetables, stored at temperatures recommended by the USDA guidelines at all times. Use thermometers in all cooling units to ascertain the storage temperatures are always kept within the mentioned guidelines.
5. Display your USDA certificate in a frame on the wall of your kitchen to show future inspectors that you met all of the guidelines during a previous inspection. If displayed properly and in an easy-to-see location, it may prevent a more thorough "fine-toothed comb" inspection the next time.
