When was the last time you had your commercial kitchen professionally cleaned? If your response was “more than six months ago,” then this potentially raises serious questions about your business’s hygiene standards.
Deep cleaning is vital for any kitchen because it involves thoroughly cleaning the entire space, including surfaces, walls, cooking equipment, filters, vents, and more. While end-of-day cleaning is also vital, wiping down surfaces, polishing cutlery, and mopping sinks and floors alone isn’t sufficient to keep kitchens spick and span.
Every commercial kitchen is required by law to be deep cleaned at least twice a year, according to the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, but what other reasons are there for this? Continue reading to learn more.
1. Improves your food hygiene rating
The Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (FHRS) informs consumers in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland of the hygiene standards within a business. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) uses a score system of zero (urgent improvement is required) to five (very good) and covers all businesses that sell food to the public, including restaurants, bars, cafés, supermarkets, hotels, schools, and hospitals.
Consumer interest in food hygiene standards has increased significantly across the UK — research shows that restaurant cleanliness has a higher influence on a diner’s choice of location than customer service. A business’ FHRS score is also strongly linked with profit — consumers are prepared to spend nearly double the amount on a meal from an establishment that boasts an exceptional rating.
“The physical condition of the business,”(i.e. its cleanliness), is one of the three core factors inspectors from the FSA consider when deciding whether or not a kitchen complies with food hygiene rules. If you adhere to strict standards and stringent deep cleaning routines, it’s certainly achievable to get that coveted five-star food hygiene rating — regardless of the size or type of business you run.
2. Prevents contamination and sickness
Looks can be deceiving. It’s easy for a kitchen to appear clean enough on the outside, but in reality, it could be harbouring a number of harmful pathogens — the same ones that contribute to the 2.4 million foodborne illnesses that are recorded in the UK each year.
According to the World Health Organization, “an estimated 600 million, almost one in ten people in the world, fall ill after eating contaminated food.” Norovirus, a stomach bug that causes vomiting and diarrhoea, is often in the news. An estimated 380,000 cases of norovirus linked to food occur in the UK per year, with dining out and consuming takeaways accounting for a combined 63 per cent of cases.
Norovirus and other foodborne diseases can be disastrous for commercial kitchens, resulting in lost production, irreparable reputational harm, and even the threat of litigation. No kitchen is immune to contamination, and businesses must take due care to avoid becoming breeding grounds for illnesses.
3. Minimises pest risk
Pests in the kitchen can be problematic for numerous reasons. They provide a health risk by transmitting illnesses via their fur, feet, droppings, urine, and saliva, as well as dangerous pathogens like salmonella and E. coli. They can gnaw through food boxes, contaminate areas or leave their droppings, and generally make a nuisance of themselves.
An infestation of any kind can bring a company to a standstill — it only takes one rat to harm your brand’s reputation, which can be extremely difficult to repair. In order to comply with the strict regulations controlling food hygiene, businesses must take measures to prevent the attraction of pests in commercial kitchens.
A thorough cleaning regime is one of the most effective ways to do so — kitchens should be cleaned and disinfected on a regular basis to prevent the spread of disease and will rid the premises of any lingering food scents that could attract vermin. The cleaner your building is, the less likely you’ll suffer an infestation — which can be much more difficult to treat.
Final thoughts
Anyone who has worked in the hospitality industry knows that the twice-yearly deep clean is a massive undertaking that calls for careful preparation, plenty of manpower, and a lot of elbow grease. Professional kitchen cleaning services are one of NuServe’s specialities, having offered commercial cleaning for over 25 years now, and we have the trained personnel, specialist tools and know-how necessary to get the job done properly. Take advantage of our professional kitchen cleaning services such as quarterly tea-point deep cleaning and periodic cleaning to ensure that you always pass inspections.
If you have any questions or would like to get a quote, please get in touch with us.