Research Paper Example on Food Safety Plan

Food safety plan is important in any operations of the restaurant in a country. As such, many agencies will investigate whether there is any negligence of food safety in whichever way. In our case, our core menu item includes ingredients for three meals which include Spaghetti Sauce, vegetable curry, and chicken cordon bleu. It is important that the process for preparing the menu is followed in accordance to the Hazard Analysis of Critical Control Point System.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

As according to the hazard prevention, the restaurant personals should ensure that there will be no case of hazardous risk when preparing the meals. The biological hazard, the pathogens such as Salmonella SPP and Shigella sp thrive in environments with inappropriate agitation, temperature, and duration. A physical hazard is likely to occur in the sense that there can be metallic substances in the food due to the metal detector failing to detect the metal particles. The hazards reduce the life of the food (Spirin & McGregor, 2013). Additionally, the meals should be well prepared and cooked. Also, there should be metal detectors that are of high quality to guarantee that even the tiniest of all the particles are detected for them to be removed.

In the case of the restaurant, strict control points should be put in place to monitor the progress of various operational activities in the restaurant. For a minimum of two minutes, the internal temperature should not exceed 80 degrees Celsius. The only metal detector that should be used is one that can recognize 2.1mm stainless steel when the sample of food is passed through the metal detector. The metal detector should be used in different stages of the food preparation and cooking, for example, every two hours of the packaging process. Metal samples should also be tested. In case fundamental limits have not been satisfied for any sample then the food should be cooked until the internal temperature has reached 85 degrees Celcius.

Every aspect of the process should be recorded to ensure that there is the availability of data for comparisons and evolutional basis. For example, all the temperatures should be correctly recorded. In essence, there should be a review to make sure that the temperatures used in cooking the meals are in line with the normal temperature (Spirin & McGregor, 2013).

Receiving Deliveries

All the requirements of the local health department should be met and the workers ought to be trained to handle the food safely. The deliveries should be arranged to arrive at designated operational time and transferred to be properly stored. One should post the deliveries consisting of the names of the drivers, time of delivery and vendors name. Additionally, a rejection policy ought to be established to guarantee consistency, accuracy, and timing (Rey-Marti et.al. 2016).

Monitoring

As soon as the delivery vehicles arrive, they should be inspected to ensure proper hygiene so as to prevent contamination of food products. One should cross check the details of the distributions such as vendors name, and drivers name before accepting the orders. The temperature of the truck should be recorded as well as that of the refrigerated products. The expiry dates of the packaged food products should be checked

Corrective Action

All the food staffs packed in dirty bags should be rejected. Also, foods with outdated expiry dates should not be accepted. One should be keen to reject food cans with swollen sides and flawed seals. Finally, all the information regarding the deliveries such as temperature should be recorded.

Storage and Preparation

Direct contact with ready-to-eat food should be avoided. All the equipment and utensils should be cleaned, dried and sanitized. The part of the utensils that comes into direct contact with food should not be touched with bare hands. The damaged food products should be stored in different locations and a specific employee ought to be assigned the role of monitoring the stored food.

Estimating Food-Cost Percentages for the Three Menu Items

The three menu items are Spaghetti Sauce, vegetable curry and chicken cordon bleu (750g). The following are the ingredients of preparing the three meals.

Ingredients for Vegetable Curry (1kg)

1. Canned diced tomatoes Black pepper

2. Canned chick peas Nutmeg powder

3. Diced vegetables (onions, carrots) Oregano

4. Minced Garlic Rice

5. Salt Water

6. Corn starch

The total cost for preparing and cooking the meal US $960 and the total price for selling the meal is the US $5880.

Food cost percentage (FCP) = Total costs of ingredients

/ Sale price

960/5880 =16.32% and this means that the earnings from the sale of vegetable curry are 100%- 16.32%= 83.68%.

Ingredients for Chicken Cordon Bleu (1kg)

1. Raw chicken breast pieces Black pepper

2. Cooked ham slices Parsley flakes

3. Swiss cheese slices

4. All-purpose flour

5. Liquid pasteurized eggs

6. Breadcrumbs

7. Salt

The total cost for preparing and cooking the Chicken Cordon Bleu is the US $ 2500, and the total selling price is the US $5300.

Food cost percentage (FCP) = Total costs of ingredients

/ Sale price

2500/7300 = 34.2%. Therefore, the earnings from the sale of the meal are 100%- 34.2%=65.8%.

Ingredients for Spaghetti Sauce (750g)

1. Fresh tomatoes Black pepper

2. Diced onions

3. Dried parsley

4. Sliced mushrooms

5. Dried basil

6. Minced Garlic Vinegar

7. Salt & Sorbic Acid

8. Sugar &Water

The total production cost for the meal US $ 650 and the total selling price for the meal is estimated to be the US $ 2100. In this case, the percentage cost for spaghetti sauce is calculated as:

Food cost percentage (FCP) = Total costs of ingredients

/ Sale price

650/2100= 30.95%

The earnings from the spaghetti sauce is therefore 100% -30.95%= 69.05%

Critical attention is required in purchasing the ingredients for food preparation and monitoring of portion size. For correct portion size, one should use measuring cups and scales to ensure that they use the correct amount of ingredients.

Staffing in the Restaurant

The recruitment and selection of employees involve a series of decisions to be made. The restaurant should be able to make use of the best way for such decisions. The employers should review the biographical data and psychometric tests. Biographical data will cause the restaurant know what kind of person that the result would expect from you. In recent years, psychometric tests have been encouraged since the hiring managers can understand the values and goals of the person being interviewed and as such, the recruitment process will involve a series of tests that will test individuals appropriately (Harrington et.al. 2013).

For the case of the management position, the hiring restaurant ought to use assessment centers. After some of the candidates have been pre-selected, they are taken through a decision making the stage for formal selection. The first decision mainly is as a result of the first screening interview that looks at the background skills and behavior of the people being interviewed. The second decision will be final and will be made by a panel of key personnel in the business. In essence, the selected will be the best candidates as per the values and mission of the restaurant.

References

Harrington, R. J., Ottenbacher, M. C., & Way, K. A. (2013). QSR choice: Key restaurant attributes and the roles of gender, age and dining frequency. Journal of quality assurance in hospitality & tourism, 14(1), 81-100.

Rey-Marti, A., Ribeiro-Soriano, D., & Palacios-Marques, D. (2016). Entrepreneurial attributes of human capital and contingency factors in the culinary tourism. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 12(1), 67-85.

Spirin, G., & McGregor, J. (2013). U.S. Patent No. 8,498,900. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.