Food Safety: Are You What You Eat?06 Nov
Picture this: You’re at an event. And you’re Hungry. You’re in the buffet line holding your plate & anticipating your turn. Happy to finally get the thong, you lean in & just when you’re about to scoop that delicious fried noodles when you see something move in the tray.
YIKES! I hope that NEVER happens to you!
(I’m getting goosebumps just thinking about it!).
The most delicious element in your event can sometimes be the most overlooked. Why? Because the caterer you took is delicious. Because the food looks & smells so good, you don’t even have to check it. Because as long as it arrives on time, it doesn’t matter.
Actually Food Safety is VERY important – it’s the one thing that your guests consume! & any defects might just harm them.
Here are 3 top things that you have to consider when it comes to your food! Foodies, take note!
1. Cleanliness: Simple yet really important. As planners, sometimes you cannot control food cleanliness. That all depends on the quality & standard of your caterers. What you can do however, is look at your logistics & cutlery used. Also, ensure that your food handlers wear proper plastic gloves & handled the food properly (i.e. if its an outdoor venue, cover food with plastic wrap).
2. HACCP-Approved Caterers. HACCP = Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point. This would ensure that the caterer with this certification knows the crucial factors in the food-processing chain & has place in systems to deal with it. Technical, yes. How is this relevant to you? Well, you can have a peace of mind knowing that the caterers understand the importance of food safety too!
3. The Aftermath: Disposal. The thing you need to remember is: make sure there’s no contamination or cross-contamination of food. Whenever you need to dispose of any leftovers or spoilt food, throw it away properly. Use double trash bags. Make sure your events team uses gloves. Have rags to wipe off any excess. It’s common sense, yes? But it’s also easily forgotten especially when your event gets too crazy (like we know some events can be). Here’s a recommendation – Have an appointed person to be in-charge of your food disposals. It’ll give you a peace of mind for sure.
Food safety is really simple if you think about it – especially for cooks & food fanatics. It’s more common sense to maintain & upkeep food safety. After all, it involves an element that we savour, which explains why we Have to make sure it’s safe.
Better to be safe than having your guests go running for the toilet (if you get what I mean).
Here’s to Safe Eating! 
Fellow Foodie,
Nadd
P.s. Look out for the next Safety Issue on a very Hot topic: FIRE!
