Most people live a very hectic lifestyle and don’t have time to make homemade baked goods, so they turn to pre-made baked goods. Keeping your baked goods contaminant-free starts with choosing ingredients you can trust. Bayco Bay Area baking supply company can provide your bakery with high-quality, organic ingredients. The second factor in keeping your baked goods contaminant-free is proper food safety practices.
We all know that cleanliness and sanitation have always been important in food service establishments- but the pandemic proved the importance of these practices. In this article, we’ll explain a few tips for keeping baked goods contaminant-free in your commercial bakery.
5 Tips for Preventing Contaminants From Your Bay Area Baking Supply Company
Below, we will go over 5 of the most common practices for keeping baked goods contaminant-free in your bakery or baking supply company.
Keep Your Bakery Clean and Tidy
When a customer enters your bakery or sees photos/videos online, it’s important to present a clean environment. This will help them feel good about trusting you. Sanitation practices that keep your workplace clean and tidy are critical. These practices protect your employees as well as your customers, help you comply with food service regulations, and ensure that your bakery produces quality products.
Practice Good Personal Hygiene
Proper sanitation starts with you and your employees. Good personal hygiene habits can keep baked goods free from pathogens carried on clothes, hair, or bodies. Food service establishments, such as bakeries, should have strict cleanliness standards in place for all employees- especially those who are in direct contact with food items.
Some common rules include:
- Keeping hair clean and secured, or wearing a hairnet/hat
- Washing hands after visiting the restroom, before preparing food, after touching raw ingredients, and before touching ready-to-eat items
- Keeping open wounds bandaged to prevent the spread of harmful bacteria
Wash All Utensils and Surfaces
Any surfaces and utensils that are used in food prep/serving or come into contact with potential contaminants can be hazardous. It’s important to be mindful of cross-contamination as well, which can be risky for your customers. When you use the same tools for various tasks without washing them, you risk exposing your customers to allergic reactions and/or foodborne illnesses.
Additionally, not washing utensils and surfaces after working with them can attract rodents and insects, which can spread disease.
Properly Maintain Equipment
Bakeries depend on a variety of machines including bread slicers, mixers, dough shelters, and more. While most bakeries do require daily washing of mixing bowls and surfaces, it’s important to practice weekly and/or monthly maintenance practices to keep your equipment sanitary and in good working order.
Properly Store Food
Bakeries often use food-sensitive ingredients for their baked goods. Therefore, it’s important to keep freezers and refrigerators clean. In order to avoid spoilage, make sure that these units are operating at the proper temperature. Ideally, temps should be checked and recorded daily so that any issues can be addressed right away.
Other practices for food storage include:
- Properly sealing food before storing it
- Labeling food with the item name and date
- Turning off lights when exiting walk-in coolers/freezers
- Clean out cold storage at least once a week (take inventory, remove spoiled food, and clean surfaces with warm water and disinfectant)
Let BayCo Baking Supply Company Meet Your Bakery Needs
Keeping your baked goods contaminant-free starts with choosing ingredients from a supplier you can trust.
For more than 30 years, BayCo a Bay Area based bakery distributor has supplied commercial bakeries with USDA-certified organic ingredients. If you are looking for something special or rare, we will strive to find it for you. We understand that many of today’s consumers are mindful of what they are eating and seek foods that are made with quality organic ingredients. Let us supply your bakery needs.