National Children’s Week emphasizes the importance of providing children with a clean and safe environment, a principle we fully support as a food safety company. A clean and safe kitchen is essential in any environment, but it is particularly critical in childcare centres and kindergartens, where children’s immune systems are still developing, making them more susceptible to illnesses like food poisoning. Thus, childcare centres must follow stringent food safety practices to protect the health of the children in their care.
OSCAR Care Group’s team of food safety experts explores what it takes to create a safe and sanitary kitchen environment in childcare and early learning centres.
Importance of a Clean and Safe Kitchen
Children’s developing bodies make them more susceptible to infections and foodborne illnesses caused by bacteria such as Salmonella, E. coli, and Listeria. A poorly maintained kitchen can serve as a breeding ground for these harmful pathogens. Besides the potential health risks, maintaining a clean and safe kitchen reflects the overall professionalism and commitment of the childcare facility towards providing a secure environment.
When to clean your kitchen within a childcare centre
The frequency and method of cleaning your kitchen should be guided by the cleaning schedule outlined in your food safety program. This program should specify how often key areas and items like sinks, storage containers, stovetops, ovens, and exhaust fans need to be cleaned. Tasks are typically categorized as daily, after each use, weekly, monthly, or quarterly, depending on whether it's routine cleaning, deep cleaning, or maintenance.
Your food safety program should also detail the appropriate cleaning methods for each item, ensuring the use of food-grade cleaning products. These specifics are tailored to the unique needs of each facility. As part of maintaining compliance with Class 1 food premise standards, it's essential to keep thorough records of when and how cleaning tasks are performed.
If your food safety program doesn't cover cleaning schedules or you need a more efficient way to manage your daily and monthly documentation, our team is here to help, and our workbooks can simplify your process.
A tidy kitchen is a safer kitchen.
Spot clean and clean spills as you go is a must. Cleaning up spills promptly prevents slips, falls and cross contamination to keep the food safe within your centre. Also, regularly clearing clutter reduces the risk of kitchen accidents.
Remember to
Wash or wipe away spills as soon as they happen.
Wash work surfaces thoroughly between tasks.
Take extra care when throwing away packaging and food waste from raw food. If packaging from raw food touches work surfaces make sure you wash and then disinfect them afterwards before continuing to prepare food.
Kitchen Layout and Design
A well-organized kitchen promotes both cleanliness and safety. When designing a kitchen for a childcare facility, ensure the layout is spacious and easy to navigate. Key considerations include:
Segregated Zones: Have designated areas for raw and cooked food preparation to prevent cross-contamination. For example, raw meat should be handled in a separate area from vegetables.
Accessible Handwashing Stations: Proper handwashing is the first defence against spreading germs. Ensure that handwashing stations with soap, warm water, and hand dryers or paper towels are easily accessible to kitchen staff.
Food Storage: Install enough shelving and cold storage areas (refrigerators and freezers) to separate different food groups. Ensure that food is stored at the correct temperature to prevent spoilage.
Remember, detergent doesn’t replace sanitiser
A common misconception we encounter during our food safety training sessions is the misunderstanding surrounding sanitizers. This is concerning because using detergent alone is insufficient for effectively sanitizing surfaces such as benches, sinks, and handles in your kitchen, leaving them vulnerable to bacteria.
What is Detergent?
Detergents play a fundamental role in this process by removing dirt, organic matter, and other contaminants from surfaces and equipment. They work by breaking down grease and grime, making it easier to clean. However, while detergents are essential for cleaning, they do not eliminate pathogens. This is where sanitizers come into play.
What is a Sanitiser?
Sanitisers are specifically designed to kill or reduce harmful bacteria, viruses, and other germs on surfaces, thus preventing the spread of infections.
Sanitizers come in various forms, including liquid solutions are typically made from chemical agents such as chlorine. These substances are effective at lowering the number of pathogens on surfaces, making them safe for children. It’s important to note that sanitizers are not a substitute for cleaning. To be effective, sanitizers must be applied to clean surface.
Regularly sanitizing surfaces and equipment helps minimize the risk of illness. To be effective, sanitizers must be applied correctly, which involves following the manufacturer’s instructions regarding dilution and contact time. It is crucial to use food-safe sanitizers when cleaning surfaces that come into contact with food.
There are also chemical with a formulation that combines detergent and disinfectant properties, designed to remove dirt, dissolve grease, and most importantly, reduce bacteria to safe levels. The detergent concentration in sanitizers is quite diluted, making it effective primarily on surfaces that are not heavily soiled.
Clean hands are safe hands
Clean hands stop germs. Washing your hands with soap can prevent or reduce the spread of common colds, Gastro, Hand, Food and Mouth Disease, Conjunctivitis and many more. As well as reduce the risk of food borne illnesses and cross contamination with food allergens.
Clean hands are important for food handlers and educators plus also children too.
For a refresher on how to handwashing, take a look at this article.
For resources and activities to help teach children wash their hands, take a look here.
Personal Hygiene for Kitchen Staff
Maintaining personal hygiene is a non-negotiable aspect of kitchen safety, especially in childcare settings. Besides proper handwashing other personal hygiene measures are a must. Such as…
Kitchen staff should wear hairnets or restrains long hair, clean uniforms, and aprons to reduce the risk of contamination. Wearing gloves when handling food is also advisable, but they should be changed regularly to avoid spreading germs.
Staff showing symptoms of illness such as fever, vomiting, or diarrhea should not handle food until fully recovered, as these symptoms could indicate an infection that could be passed on to children.
Food Allergen management starts in a clean and safe kitchen
Food allergies are increasingly common in early learning centres, kindergartens, and daycare facilities. When preparing meals for children with allergies, the risk of cross-contamination in the kitchen becomes a significant concern. Cross-contamination occurs when food becomes contaminated with allergens that were not originally present. Since even a trace amount of an allergen can trigger a severe reaction, it is crucial to manage this risk effectively, especially when catering to multiple allergies.
Common sources of cross-contamination include serving utensils, chopping boards, temperature probes, and food storage containers. Contamination can happen when unsafe food touches or drips onto other food, during food handling by staff during preparation, cooking, or serving, or through shared equipment and utensils. To ensure a clean and safe kitchen in childcare settings, it's vital to implement effective food allergen management practices:
Maintaining a clean and safe kitchen with childcare is where to start in food allergen management.
Clearly labelling food and store safely
Use separate chopping boards, utensils and equipment where possible
Clean and sanitise all equipment used with allergens
Designate allergy free zones in the kitchen
Know what to avoid for each allergen
If you need more Food Allergen Training, we have a course for Australian Childcare centres. Find out more about this here.
Together, we can keep children safe within care
All Children have the right to good quality health care, clean water, nutritious food and a clean environment so that they will stay healthy. A clean and safe kitchen in childcare centres is vital in safeguarding the health and wellbeing of children.
By implementing proper kitchen layout, personal hygiene, food handling, and sanitation practices, childcare centres can minimize the risks of foodborne illnesses. Training staff regularly on food safety protocols further ensures that they are equipped to maintain a high standard of cleanliness, creating a safe dining environment for children.
Ultimately, by prioritizing food safety, childcare facilities can provide a healthy and nurturing environment that promotes the wellbeing of the children in their care.
When it comes to food safety, we’re here to help you navigate compliance, provide training and resources, assist with nutritious menus and recipes to grow healthy children. Reach out to our team today.