Color-Coding in the Kitchen

When running a restaurant, the importance of food safety is unparalleled. As a chef, you can spend you whole day ensuring that no cross-contamination occurs on your watch. You may have a customer walk in that is allergic to shellfish or a customer that's allergic to dairy. How do you ensure that no shellfish touches the food of the first customer and no dairy touches the plate of the second customer?  Public Kitchen Supply suggests with a proper food safety system in place that includes color-coding.
Color-coding is pretty simple. There's a color-coding chart that is standard across chefs for keeping foods separate. Restaurant suppliers and kitchenware manufactures adhere to this chart when producing items to make it even easier for chefs. The chart typically reads as follows:
Green - Fruits and Vegetables Yellow - Raw Poultry Blue - Cooked Food White - Dairy Products Tan - Fish and Seafood Red - Raw Meat
To work with this chart, separate your foods out according to these ingredients and use those color coded plates or cutting boards accordingly. There's a variety of kitchen tools that can work with this system including cutting boards, tongs, plates, knives, dishers, and much more. All the red items, like a Mundial Cook's Knife with a red handle, displays that they've touched raw meat. The green utensils, like an Update International Tong with a green handle, display they worked with fruits and vegetables. The white touched dairy, etc. It's easy to keep track of not just allergens for your customers but also keep track of which ingredients, such as raw poultry need to be kept separate from everything else while cooking. Color-coding prevents sickness and allergic reactions. It can really help when multiple chefs are in the kitchen.
Keep it simple when it comes to color-cording and use a system that makes sense for you. Use the standard system, if you can, but if you can't make sure your kitchen staff knows what color stands for what. Post a sign explaining the colors. Color-coding allows for more confidence in serving your meals. Ensure that your customers have the best meal of their lives by implementing a food safety system that integrates color-coding. For all your kitchenware needs, try Public Kitchen Supply, and follow these tips.