Food hygiene and self-inspection in canteen and large kitchen

Many service assistants work entirely or partly in connection with a kitchen canteen or large kitchen — especially within corporate service and hospital service. Here not only the ordinary hygiene rules for cleaning apply but also food safety legislation's requirements for self-control. Understanding the principles you can actively contribute to the food being safe to eat.

§What is own control?

Quality control is the company's own system to ensure that food hygiene is in order and that the food served is not harmful to health. Food businesses must base their quality control on HACCP principles (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) — a systematic review of where in the process there is risk of error and how the risk is managed, either as good practice or as a critical control point, according to the Danish Food Authority's guidance on food hygiene.

• 01Cleaning plan for rooms, equipment and surfaces
• 02Temperature control of cooling, freezing, and hot food
• 03Personal hygiene among staff handling food
• 04Durability labeling and date control
• 05Pest control and prevention

§The cold chain and the danger zone

Bacteria Thrive Best in What is Called the Danger Zone — the Temperature Range Between About 5 and 65 Degrees, Where Growth Can be Very Rapid. At 37 Degrees a Single Bacterium Can Become Over a Thousand in a Few Hours. Therefore, Chilled Foods Must be Stored at Maximum 5 Degrees, Where Bacterial Growth is Significantly Slowed.

§The cleaning plan is part of the self-control

Your kitchen and canteen cleaning is not just ordinary facility service — it is included as a documented part of the company's self-inspection program. This means cleaning often must be performed according to a fixed plan and in some cases documented so the company can show that hygiene is controlled if the Food Authority comes for an inspection.

§Smiley scheme

When the Food Authority conducts inspection, the company gets an inspection report and a smiley posted on Findsmiley.dk. The smiley shows consumers how well the place meets food rules—and your part of the work, cleaning and hygiene, directly helps determine the result.

§Your role as a service assistant

You are rarely the one making the food, but you are often the one who keeps the premises, equipment, and contact surfaces clean, and therefore are part of the hygiene barrier that prevents food from becoming contaminated. Know the cleaning plan for your specific kitchen, follow it, and speak up if you notice something that does not look right — a refrigerator temperature that is too high, or signs of pests.

“Food safety does not rest on the chef alone — it rests on the entire chain, including the one who cleans.”

— Basic food hygiene rule