Innovative process management platforms are improving food safety visibility for managers of multi-site catering facilities.
London-based food businesses are receiving mass fines after failing to meet food safety compliance in restaurants, costing them thousands and endangering customers. The London Chinatown tourist favourite Won Kei received over£40,000 in fines after cockroaches and dead mice were found in kitchens and they were guilty of falsifying documents. And in Whitehall, the director of the Italian restaurant Little Sicily was charged with three food hygiene offences, with penalties over £20,000 due to a lapse in food safety and rodent infestation.
According to mpro5, London food businesses are in dire need of streamlined process management platforms to enable managers to ensure food safety compliance is being adhered to.
Sam Roberts, Sales Director at mpro5, said, “London is a global tourism hub with millions eating in its restaurants. Managers have a responsibility to safeguard their business and its customers by adhering to food safety regulations. It is impossible to keep track of paper-based records for compliance in this day and age, and businesses are in dire need of innovation. With the correct process management platform, food business managers can monitor food safety remotely, ensuring key checks such as fridge temperatures are logged at the right time by being time stamped.”
Food businesses with multiple sites often struggle to monitor their food safety status, whether due to having less time for travel or having the incorrect process in place, to log and maintain compliance. Takeaways, sandwich shops, and convenience stores are less likely to be compliant than restaurants.
Roberts continued, “With the correct process management system, managers can report food poisoning outbreaks as soon as they occur to prevent further damage. Food safety records from the day can be shared with the Food Standards Agency, including temperature checks and cleaning reports, which are time-stamped, ensuring staff complete the processes at the allocated times and correctly. This reduces the need for environmental health officers to investigate in person, helping to alleviate the ongoing UK inspection backlog.
“Food businesses can also enhance systems with IoT technologies by installing temperature measuring probes”, added Roberts. “This allows managers to monitor temperatures of food storage facilities and alert staff to any temperature fluctuation that could lead to lapses in food safety. In today’s climate, food businesses cannot afford to face extensive compliance fines and must safeguard their customers and the future of their business.
“London is establishing a bad reputation for food safety compliance, and food business managers need to do more to have better visibility over their establishments. Process management platforms provide managers with the much-needed compliance awareness required, ensuring all staff comply with food safety regulations. Hefty compliance fines could be the difference maker in a business’s future, and managers need to get on board.”
