In JOE & THE JUICE, our hygiene is closely connected to the guest experience and brand representation. The stores represent who we are and how we treat our home with respect. We wash our hands not only to be hygienic but also to show humbleness and respect for our guests.
Without good hygiene procedures, we would lose our identity. It is the foundation for our guests’ experience and it shows the effort we have made to make them feel welcome. Therefore, we do not see it as a task, but rather a quest to be the best version of ourselves in every aspect.
We want to be SPOTLESS!
Personal Hygiene
When working behind the bar it is essential for us to always have high personal hygiene standards. Failing to do so will have immense consequences for guests and ourselves. We take our hygiene standards very seriously and therefore educate all our Juicers in the correct hygiene and cleaning procedures.
The following rules must be followed to ensure high hygiene standards as well as to prevent infection and contamination across all stores worldwide.
*This is a key hygiene stage and a critical health risk
Standard Food & Safety Procedure - GCC
Personal Hygiene
1. Hand Washing
The hands are a Juicer’s primary tool and a focus point for our guests when making products. Therefore, when handling food washing hands is the single most important action to take. There are many reasons for washing hands but the two most important are; to reduce the possibility of contaminating any food products you touch but also to ensure that our guests, overseeing you working behind the bar, feel safe consuming the products you make.
Wash your hands after:
- Entering the Kitchen
- Using toilet
- Handling raw food
- Changing a dressing
- Dealing with an ill customer/colleague Handling boxes
- Touching hair, nose or face
- Smoking, eating, coughing, sneezing & blowing the nose Cleaning
- Handling waste
- Handling money
Wash your hands before wearing gloves and after removing them.
Wash your hands only in the designated hand washing sink.
The Why:
- To remove pathogenic microbes and other harmful substances (such as dirt of residues from cleaning material).
- Prevent contamination and cross-contamination.
1. Wet your hands thoroughly under comfortably hot water.
2. Apply a small amount of antibacterial liquid soap and rub your hands together to create a lather
3. Wash the front and back of your hands and rub them together vigorously. All parts of the hands and wrists should be washed.
4. Rinse your hands thoroughly under comfortably hot running water.
5. Dry your hands using disposable paper towels.
2. Hand Sanitiser
Hand sanitiser is an extra precaution to further reduce the possibility of contamination when using your hands to prepare food. To maintain a high standard of hygiene all employees must use hand sanitiser before making juice, sandwiches, or coffee. The staff operating the till must always wash hands and afterward use hand sanitiser immediately after leaving the till station because of potential contamination from handling notes and coins.
3. Using Gloves
If you are wearing gloves behind the bar, it is very important to change gloves regularly especially when they are worn out, clearly soiled, or torn. Nevertheless, it is crucial to always wash your hands before wearing gloves because the risk of contamination will be lower if the gloves tear.
Please note that wearing gloves does not mean that other hygiene procedures become less important. Wearing gloves does not reduce the importance of regularly washing hands and using sanitiser. In addition, gloves should regularly be changed to new ones and hands should also be washed while changing gloves.
Do not prepare or handle food if you have had any of the following disorders in the last 48 hours:
If you have any of the above-mentioned disorders, you must inform the manager before your shift starts and it is then the manager’s responsibility to decide when you may resume work.
- Diarrhoea
- Vomiting
- Fever
- All other infectious illnesses
If you have any of the above-mentioned disorders, you must inform the manager before your shift starts and it is then the manager’s responsibility to decide when you may resume work.
Before returning to the product making on the juice, sandwich and coffee stations, you must first wash your hands and then put on sanitiser. This is to ensure that there is no risk for contaminating between potential bacteria from coins and notes.
*This is a key hygiene stage and a critical health risk
Gloves should NEVER be worn for the Till juicer on the Till station. This is due to the cashhandling (resulting in cross contamination) and since we are interested in signalising care and respect towards our guests.
4. Peanut Butter
Peanut Butter is a "High Risk Ingredient" in regard to cross contamination and allergens. Therefore, all Juicers should be cautious when handling Peanut Butter making sure that it does not come in contacts, spills, or sprinkles on anything else in the bar. The Peanut Butter should be at all times placed in its designated spot / cantina within the bar, and not be moved around to any of the other positions or stations. We need to respect that cross contamination of this ingredient can cause serious issues for our guests.
How to handle Peanut Butter? Follow the step by step guide below:
- Wash hands → put on gloves
- Take out the Acai Bowl from the bar freezer
- Add 1 spoon (60ml) granola
- Cut 2 pcs. banana with mozzarella slicer
- Add 1 scoop peanut butter
- Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of hemp seeds on top
- Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of cacao nibs on top
- Serve the Acai Bowl to the guests with gloves
- Discard used gloves immediately and wash your hands
- Put on new gloves
Change gloves after handling Peanut Butter to avoid cross contamination.
5. Smoking
Smoking is NOT permitted where food is prepared or stored. It is NOT permitted to smoke in front of our stores and a warning will be given by the relevant manager if it happens.
6. Clean Work Clothes
- Always bring clean clothes to work every day, to change into at the store before starting your shift. Not following this rule will have consequences for employment.
- It is required that all employees have a pair of shoes which are only used when working a shift in the bar.
- No work clothes can be held overnight in the store or be stored in the designated storage area.
Following things are required to wear at work as a food handler:
Hats/hairnet/beard snoots – to prevent hair falling into food
Aprons – To prevent other clothing coming into contact with food.
7. Personal Belongings
- All clothing items and private belongings must be stored in the designated storage area away from the bar and must never be placed in cabinets behind the bar or near any food products.
- No personal belongings can be held overnight in the store.
- Phones may NOT be used behind the bar as they can carry bacteria that may spread to food products if used in the bar.
8. Jewellery
It is not permitted to wear any kind of hand or wrist jewelry while at work. Wearing jewelry while handling food can potentially spread bacteria and is, therefore, a direct food contamination risk.
The following items are not permitted to be worn while working behind the bar:
Watches, Bracelets, Rings or Any other jewellry on fingers and wrists
9. Person In Charge (PIC)
There should always be a PIC on shift (Person in Charge), if for instance the Municipality would visit. The PICis the responsible one when it comes to the hygiene standards being ideal in the bar.
Everyone on shift should be certified with the “Basic Food Safety” training. If they don’t have the certification, is should be scheduled and appearing in the record.
International & Operational Food Safety Procedures
Cleaning Agents
Before learning to clean properly it is fundamental to know which cleaning agents to use and which types of cleaning agents a JOE & THE JUICE bar will have available.
The two cleaning agents that you will be using mainly when cleaning are; "104" glass cleaner and "802" Bactericidal Surface Sanitiser. These will typically be used with cloths, sponges, or scotch pads to clean specific areas. All of this is further explained in the Trail Task Manual.
"104" - Class Cleaner
Solely used to polish glass surfaces. Dilution is ready to use.
How to mix: Dilution is ready to use
How to use: Ready to use
"802" - Bactericidal Surface Sanitiser
Rinse free sanitiser for use on all food preparation at all surfaces
How to mix: Dilution is 20 ml/750 ml
How to use: 1 minute contact time before wiping. No rinsing required
2. Dishwashing
"704" - Hand Dishwashing Liquid
How to mix: Dilution is 10 ml/ltr
How to use: 1-2 minute contact time would be more effective.
"308" - Machine Dishwash Detergent
How to use: Is dispensed through the dosing units. Dilution is 0.3/ 1 ltr.
"401" - Descaler
How to mix: Dilution is 500 ml /1 ltr
How to use: Pour to the water filler area and run the machine empty for 3 cycles.
3. Personal Hygiene
"801" - Bactericidal Hand Soap
How to mix: Ready to use.
How to use: Using 801, should wash hands for minimum of 20 seconds before rinsing.
Hand Sanitising Gel
How to mix: Ready to use.
How to use: Alcohol hand sanitiser recommended to use frequently.
4. Coffee Cleaning
Espresso machine cleaner
Used when cleaning the espresso machine.
5. Sinks
The following are the rules for using all sinks in the bar.
Sink no. 1 (Washing hands)
This sink is only ever used for washing hands and nothing else! Make sure soap, paper hand towels, and sanitise dispensers are always filled up.
Sink no. 2 (Juice Station)
The sink placed in the bar next to the juice station is used to rinse blender cans. If there is no can-flusher for the milk pitchers, they will be rinsed in this sink as well.
Sink no. 3 (Dishwasher)
In the morning, before open for guests, the sink placed next to the dishwasher is used to rinse fruit and vegetables. This is the only time of the day where it can be used for this task, so make sure everything is prepared for the entire day.The rest of the day, it is used to clean all equipment before they are placed into the dishwasher.
If additional fruit and vegetables need to be rinsed during the day, the sink and area around it first need to be disinfected. This is done by cleaning with 802 disinfectant spray and then pouring boiling water over the sink, including the surfaces around the sink. Once this area has been used for dirty equipment that goes into the dishwasher, it is then considered a “Dirty Zone”.
Every night at close, the sinks are cleaned with a 802 disinfectant spray and boiling water so all bacteria are eliminated.
*This is a key hygiene stage and a critical health risk
Fruit and Vegetavles to be rinsed
Rinsing Procedures:
Bacteria can be transmitted to our store by fruit and vegetables we receive from suppliers if dirty water has been used to grow or rinse them. The bar can also be exposed to bacteria through poor hygiene standards of the workers who harvest the fruit and vegetables. Therefore, the rinsing of all fruit and vegetables is essential in JOE & THE JUICE.
*This is a key hygiene stage and a critical health risk
Fruit and vegetables with skin such as; avocado, banana, passionfruit, and grapefruit also need to be cleaned to prevent dirt from the skin contaminating once placed in a canteen. The rinsing procedure must be done in Sink No. 3 (See sink procedures) where it’s commonly done in the morning when preparing for the day.
In some busy situations, fruit and vegetables prepped during the morning will not be enough for the day. In these cases, Sink No. 3 must first be cleaned and disinfected before using to prep further fruit and vegetables.
*This is a key hygiene stage and a critical health risk
When rinsing, always use cold water because hot water can promote bacteria growth. If there are any signs of rot or mold in the products, the affected food products must immediately be discarded from the bar. Mold or rot can be very harmful to humans if consumed.
The following food products need to be rinsed before use, to remove potential bacteria:
Apple - Celery - Mint - Tomato - Red Bell Pepper - Carrot (cut off top part) - Ginger - Lemon - Avocado - Broccoli - Cucumber - Turmeric root - Kiwi - Pineapple - Passionfruit - Red Grapefruit - Kale - Dill* - Spring Onions* -Basil*.
It is critical that the following products are washed with extra attention:
Dill - Spring Onion - Basil.
6. Customer Area
For cleaning the Customer Area, we use "802" bactericidal surface sanitiser and a designated cloth which is only to be used for cleaning the Customer Area.
Always bring the cloth and disinfectant spray to clean tables and seating after any guests leave. Rinse the cloth under hot water before using it to clean. If there are stains on furniture, use soapy water and rinse off with a wet cloth. Also, always check the condition in customer toilets whenever cleaning the Customer Area.
7. Ice Cubes
Ice cubes can only be picked up from the machine using the designated plastic spoon. In every bar, there is one specific spoon for this purpose. No other equipment or hands can be used to pick up the ice cubes. The spoon must be cleaned and disinfected in the dishwasher every night.
When ice cubes are picked up from the cooling grave and used in the juice production, the small spoon for ice cubes must be used. Always make sure ice cubes are handled the same way as other food products, with clean and disinfected hands.
Use of Sanitiser
1. Cloth sanitation
Every cloth should be sanitised before use in the designated sink for sanitising.
- Fill up a bucket with water
- Put in the sanitiser and put in the cloths for 1 hour.
- Fill up the bucket with clean water and wash the cloths
Make sure that the chlorine concentration should be 100 ppm (not below, not above).
2. Vegetable sanitation
All fruits and vegetables used for ready to eat items should be sanitised in the designated sink for sanitising.
1. Rinse with water to remove excess soil and dirt
2. Fill the sink with water and sanitiser and soak them for 1 minute.
3. Change gloves and wash hands before removing them from the sanitiser
4. Remove them from the sanitiser and rinse with water.
The most common sanitiser solution is Chlorine sanitiser. The workplace should have a designated sink for sanitising purpose only.
Make sure when sanitising fruit and vegetables that the ppm for the chlorine sanitiser should be within 100 ppm. (not below, not above).
3. Sanitation of equipment
Every hour every utensil in the bar needs to be sanitised. For this purpose, put the equipment in the dishwasher.
Prep Procedures
To avoid cross-contamination with bacteria between different types of food, the separation must be maintained between fruit, vegetables and animal products during preparation and storage.
When chopping boards and knives have been in contact with potential bacteria or anything which can lead to bacteria growth, they need to be washed in the sink with a brush, hot water, and soap. Hereafter they need to be disinfected in the dishwasher.
*This is a key hygiene stage and a critical health risk
1. Prep Procedures
The procedure for washing hands and using sanitiser applies when prepping all products due to the handling of food.
The separation of products in between prepping is another important hygiene procedure, meaning that both knives and chopping boards need to be cleaned every time before prepping the next ingredient. This is to avoid cross-contamination of potential bacteria and allergens between different products.
2. Use two separate chopping boards while prepping
Once you are finished prepping a specific ingredient such as dill, spring onion, ginger, etc. all knives and chopping boards must be washed in the sink and disinfected in the dishwasher. While a new set of knives and chopping boards must be used for the next ingredient.
Repeat this procedure of switching between the two knives and chopping boards until the prep is completed.
Always switch to clean chopping boards and knives when prepping each different type of ingredient.
*This is a key hygiene stage and a critical health risk
3. Pesto and Tuna Mousse
When we mix many ingredients together from different food groups (dairy, fish, and vegetables) the risk for contamination and bacteria growth is at its highest.
Due to the increased potential risks, when prepping pesto and tuna mousse it is vital to follow all hygiene procedures correctly.
Meaning that; rinsing all ingredients thoroughly, switching chopping boards/knives and disinfecting them every time you have prepped each ingredient is critical.
*This is a key hygiene stage and a critical health risk
Once prepped, pesto and tuna all have a shelf life of 2 days, meaning they must be used within 48 hours. We always aim to work with freshly made food products each day, to maintain high quality in everything we serve. Therefore, it is crucial to have a healthy ideal structure which prevents these specific products from being stored for more than 2 days. Leftover pesto and tuna from the previous day should always be used first but must be thrown out 48 hours after being prepped.
Pesto
- Make sure to rinse basil and bananas thoroughly.
- Wash hands and use sanitise, before using a clean chopping board and knife when cutting banana and nutritional yeast.
- Clean and wash the blender can in dishwasher before putting together the ingredients.
- Check pesto bottles have been properly cleaned before pouring in new pesto. Meaning there is no visible pesto residue and they have been disinfected.
Tuna Mousse
- Make sure to rinse dill and spring onions thoroughly.
- Use mayonnaise and a tuna bag that has been stored inside a fridge and is below 5 degrees.
- Wash hands and use sanitise, before using a clean chopping board and knife when cutting dill and spring onions.
- Make sure to mix all ingredients in a clean and disinfected canteen.
- Pour the finished tuna mousse into clean and disinfected canteens and close with a lid.
4. Separation in canteens
To avoid cross-contamination between different food products, it is essential to store all prepped products separately in canteens e.g. tuna mousse in one canteen, tomatoes in one canteen, banana in one canteen, etc. Canteens and containers must also be used to separate products in storage, to minimise all risk of cross-contamination.
5. Knife sharpener
All bars are equipped with sharpeners to ensure we always work with sharp knives. After sharpening a knife make sure to rinse it in water and wipe it with a paper hand towel. This is to prevent loose parts from the sharpened knife from ending up in our products, check the tip of the blade frequently. If it is loose put the knife to one side and do not use it.
Dishwasher
All moveable bar equipment must go into the dishwasher except for; portafilters, shower screens from the espresso machine, as well as electrical and larger equipment. This way we ensure that all equipment used in the bar is disinfected.
Before placing the dirty equipment in the dishwasher everything must be washed using a dishwashing brush hot water and soap to remove all dirt. The dishwasher uses the same water for the entire day! Therefore, it is crucial that all equipment is thoroughly washed before going into the dishwasher. Especially pesto bottles and blender cans as they can be carriers of potential bacteria due to the residue (leftovers) left inside the bottles and cans.
*This is a key hygiene stage and a critical health risk
Cleaning Pesto bottles: add soap, hot water then shake to clean and dissolve all pesto leftovers. Before placing it into the dishwasher, scrub thoroughly with a brush.
Blender cans (also pesto blender can): Rinse thoroughly with a brush and soap before placing it into the dishwasher.
Food Storage
Following the correct storage procedures is very important when handling food. All processes need to be controlled and structured so JOE & THE JUICE, ultimately, can ensure that our elevated hygienic procedures guarantee that we will always serve fresh and healthy food and beverages. When focusing on the storage of all food products, there are two key areas to master. Firstly, separation of products and finally which products to store and how.
1. Three storage options
There are three options for storing all products, which JOE & THE JUICE handles:
- Chilled goods (fridges)
- Frozen goods (freezer)
- Dry stock goods
The standard storage set-up we use in the bar is with; fridge units at the sandwich station, juice station, coffee station, and a small freezer under the grills. In the stockroom, there is a large fridge, a large freezer, and shelves for dry stock.
2. Storage of food products
Food products shall always be stored hygienically in clean surroundings and never stored directly on the floor. It is important that all products are stored in the stockroom so guests don’t have access to any products. All food products must always be stored separately from cleaning agents and chemicals.
Below are all food products listed and in which storage unit they must be stored:
Friges
Basil - Broccoli - Carrots - Celery - Cucumber - Kale - Kiwi - Mint - Red Bell Pepper - Spinach - Turmeric root - Dill - Turkey (Thawed) - Serrano - Milk - Mozzarella - Mayonnaise - Cakes - Tuna Mousse - Pesto - Tuna bags.
The following products must be kept in fridges once opened
Vanilla Milk - Oat milk - Elderflower mix - Almond milk - Chocolate Almond Milk.
Freezer
Strawberries - Chicken - Turkey - Cakes - Bread (Both regular and Gluten-free bread) - Acai Puree.
Edible dry stock
Cacao powder - Protein powder - Salt - Black Pepper - Olive Oil - Water - Nutritional yeast - Blue spirulina - Green spirulina - Beetroot powder - Granola - Pumkin seeds - Cranberries - Goji berries.
3. If errors occur
If an error occurs with the cooling units and the stored products exceed the temperature limits, then the products must be either discarded or used within 3 hours from the instance when they exceeded the temperature limits.
If cooling unit errors occur, contact your manager.
4. Separation of products
To avoid the risk of cross-contamination between different product types, it is imperative to always maintain the following separation procedures:
1. Separation of food products stored in cooling units.
2. Separation of different food products in each canteen.
3. The separation between cleaning agents or chemicals (fruit fly traps) and foodstuff.
4. Separation when prepping.
5. Defrosting food
Once cooked meat, poultry and other large items that has been frozen down, it should be defrosted thoroughly before serving. If high-risk food is defrosted at room temperature, bacteria will start to multiply on the surface of the food while the centre remains frozen. A safe way to defrost frozen food is to keep it in the chiller at 1 C - 4 C.
This ensures that the food will spend as little time as possible in the danger zone temperature and will be cooled down to preferable temperature for high-risk food.
6. Shelf life & labelling
All pre-packed food comes with a date indication of “use by” on the label, which refers to the expire date of the product. Food that is past its use by date should be disposed of immediately, as the food will have exceeded the critical time limit before bacteria will multiply to a level sufficient to cause food poisoning. Some pre-packed foods will have an instruction for “after opening” or “once opened”. In this case, these instructions are to be followed for the specific food.
If the food doesn’t have any kind of regulation for the shelf life of the product once opened, we must label it ourselves. The practice of labelling is, once the food has been prepped or the packaging has been broken, you must label the packaging or the storage of the food.
For example, when prepping fruits for the juice station the canteen storing the fruit should be labelled with:
1. Date of prepping or opening
2. Expire/use by date.
Regarding food labelling, it is important to save the specific labelling from the prepping when changing the canteens, for whatever reason. The new and clean canteen should not have a new label, as it won’t be in accordance to the optimal shelf life of the food.
For the purpose of labelling food, use the designated printer for food labelling, we have in the store. The printed labels will hereby already have specific shelf-life instructions according to Dubai Municipality.
7. Temperatures
Food decomposes due to the action of enzymes and spoilage of microbes – such as bacteria. One of the ways of preservation is temperature control of the food. We should be checking the temperature of the food throughout the food flow – from delivery to storage, but also during the preparation.
The basic rules of good food storage practice is:
- Keep high-risk food: out of the danger zone ( 5 C - 63 C)
- Keep cold food cold: ideally at 5 or below – low temperatures restrict the multiplication of most bacteria
- Keep frozen food: -18 C or below
- Keep hot food hot: 63 C or above
- Dry goods / safe storage: These areas should always be clean, dry cool, well ventilated and pest proof
Separation in cooling units
The sandwich station fridge/cooling grave must only contain:
Chicken (defrosting) - Turkey (defrosting) - Serrano - Tuna mousse - Tomato (prepped) - Mozzarella (prepped) - Jalapeños - Pesto - Avocado - Gluten-free (defrosting) - Tabasco.
The juice station fridge/cooling grave must only contain:
Fruits - Vegetables - Vanilla Milk - Almond Milk - Prepped elderflower.
All prepped fruits and vegetables must be separated into their own canteens or bowls. Vanilla milk, almond milk and prepped elderflower must also be separated from fruit and vegetables inside the fridge.
The juice station freezer must only contain:
Strawberries - Acai.
The freezer must only contain the above-mentioned products. To ensure the highest quality when making juice, we also always aim to use products which are still frozen and not thawed (defrosted). Therefore, be sure not to fill out too many frozen products into canteens inside the cooling grave which will end up defrosting before being used. Instead, refill with smaller amounts more frequently throughout the day to avoid serving products made with thawed berries.
The coffee station must only contain:
Milk products - Water
The stockroom fridges must only contain the listed products and in the following separation:
Fridge 1
Basil - Broccoli - Carrots - Celery - Cucumber - Kale - Kiwi - Lemon - Mint - Red Bell Pepper - Spinach - Turmeric root - Spring Onions - Dill - Avocado - Banana - Ginger - Passionfruit* - Tomato - Red Grapefruit* - Apple*.
Fridge 2
Bread** - Chicken** - Mayonnaise - Mozzarella - Serrano - Turkey** - Tuna*** - Whole, semi and skimmed milk.
*Passion fruit, Red Grapefruit, Apple and Bread
These products can be stored outside the fridge but if there is space, the shelf life can be prolonged by having them stored in a fridge.
**Chicken and Turkey
These products must be defrosted in the fridge before being used.
***Tuna
Although tuna can be stored in dry stock, it is imperative that it is stored in the fridge before preparing the tuna mousse. If the tuna mousse is prepared with tuna taken directly from the dry stock then the temperature of the product will be too high and bacteria formation will have favorable conditions.
To avoid potential cross-contamination between food product types, it is important to separate all dairy and meat products away from all fruit and vegetables. If there is no space to separate these food products into two fridges as mentioned above, it is imperative that meat is always stored at the bottom of the fridge in canteens and fruit/vegetables stored at the top section.
The stockroom freezer must only contain:
Chicken - Turkey - Strawberry - Sandwich bread - Gluten-free bread - Acai - Croissants (only in selected stores).
All meat products should be stored on a shelf separate from everything else. Other food products can be stored on the same shelf in the freezer but they must be clearly separated in packages, boxes, or canteens.
The stockroom space for the dry stock should contain:
Cacao Powder - Protein Powder - Salt - Black Pepper - Olive Oil - Water - Jalapenos (not opened) - Chocolate almond milk (not opened) - Vanilla milk (not opened) - Oat milk (not opened) - Almond milk (not opened) - Elderflower (concentrated) -Nutritional yeast - Blue spirulina - Green spirulina - Beetroot powder - Granola - Pumkin seeds - Cranberries - Goji berries.
Food Handling & Preparation
1. Common food hazards
As food handlers we have a great responsibility from protecting the consumers from harm. When working with food, we must make sure that nothing in our food that we prep, serve or sell to our guests can cause them harm.
A food hazard is anything in food that could cause harm to the consumer. It is crucial that we know which food hazards to be aware of, in order to avoid it contaminating the food we serve. Examples of food hazards:
Physical hazards: Hair, fingernails, plasters, bits of machinery or equipment, dust and dirt, pest droppings, fur etc.
Chemical hazards: Cleaning chemicals, pesticide residues on raw ingredients such as fruit and vegetables, bait used to kill pests
Microbial hazards: Bacteria, viruses, moulds and yeast
Allergenic hazards: Nuts, dairy products, shellfish
As a food handler, you must try to prevent contamination of these food hazards – especially bacteria (Microbial hazard). Most bacteria are harmless, but the pathogenic bacteria (disease causing) can create major problems if not being careful when handling food.
2. Bacterial multiplication
Certain parameters affect the growth process of bacteria. Time, moisture, nutrients and temperature are the conditions that support bacterial growth. Under optimal conditions, bacteria can double in number every 10-20 minutes. There is different temperature zones know when it comes to the growth of bacteria.
-18 C or below = long shelve life: When food is frozen, bacteria become dormant and cannot multiply.
1 C – 4 C: Refrigerated display units should hold chilled food at 5 C or below and so should operate a a temperature of between 1 C and 4 C.
5 C – 63 C: Bacteria will grow rapidly. This range is also known as the “danger zone”. The ideal temperature for rapid bacterial multiplication is 37 C (the temperature of the human body).
63 C - 75 C: At this range, the bacteria will stop multiplying, but they don’t die.
75 C – or above: Bacteria die.
The effect of these temperature ranges and the growth of bacteria is also dependent on the type of food. Some types of foods are more in risk of bacteria growth than others.
A method to kill bacteria is by using the dishwasher. The dishwasher should be working at a temperature range between 75-85 C.
Low risk food:
High in suger (chocolate), salt (chips), acid (pickled food), lack of oxygen, dry products (pasta)
Raw food:
There are two types of raw food – raw food that is ready to eat and raw food that is to be cooked.
Raw, ready to eat food (RTE):
Fruit and vegetables that are eaten without cooking. The skin from, the fruit and vegetables can be contaminated with harmful bacteria. Therefore, it’s important to wash them thoroughly before prepping or eating. Ready to eat / consume food is considered being high- risk food
Rawfood that is to be cooked:
Meat, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy products and whole vegetables. These types of food are often contaminated with harmful bacteria and is, therefore, usually stored chilled or frozen to slow down the multiplication of bacteria.
3. Cross contamination
By knowing the different types of foods there could possibly be at the workplace, hereby it’s important to be aware of preventing cross contamination. Cross-contamination happens when pathogenic bacteria are transferred from a source of contamination to food.
For example if you use them same knife to prepare raw meat and then were to chop vegetables -> cross-contamination of bacteria that could end up causing food poisoning. In this case the knife would be considered as the “vehicle” of contamination, since it was the thing transferring the contamination.
Other vehicles of contamination could include; food (if raw food is allowed to come in contact with RTE food), or hands / hand contact surfaces (door handles switches etc.)
General high hygiene standards are crucial in order to prevent cross-contamination, such as washing hands regularly, wearing clean and tidy work clothes and having good general cleaning standards within the workplace. To prevent cross-contamination when prepping the food, we use color coded equipment to distinguish what utensil to use to what type of food.
An example of how the color coordinating could look like:
This also applies for the use of cloths. Each station handling different types of food should have their own color of cloth, so the cloth won’t be a possible vehicle for cross contamination between stations. Fx blue cloth for sandwich station (raw food), green cloth for juice station (RTE foods).
Guest Illness
Any food products which do not meet the requirements for food safety and are not fit for human consumption must be withdrawn from sale immediately. If JOE & THE JUICE receives a guest complaint about a person becoming ill after consuming our products, the product which may have caused the illness must be immediately discarded or otherwise be stored safely away from the store for further investigation by the authorities.
If a guest complains about becoming ill after consuming our products, the following action must be taken:
1. Ask what the guest had to eat or drink and at what time
2. Check Trail to assess whether all temperatures have been complied with
3. Check routines and procedures for the potential products involved (i.e. was the dill and spring onions rinsed thoroughly before mixing with tuna?)
4. Check ingredients in the products, expiration dates, signs of rot, etc.
5. Check up on personal hygiene
6. Contact your manager and prepare all relevant details. The manager will then make contact with the Head Office
Traceability
JOE & THE JUICE is able to track and trace all products which are purchased from suppliers for making our products which we sell.
All purchases and deliveries made to our stores are ordered through and confirmed in our internal system Workplanner (https://wp.joejuice.com/). The orders made through Workplanner create an order with our supplier which then creates an invoice based on the order. The invoices are validated by our local Purchasing Manager to certify that the invoices match the orders made in Workplanner. All invoices refer to an order-number given by the supplier. Through the order-number, the supplier can track the LOT/Batch-numbers used for the given order. The LOT/Batch numbers can then be used to track & trace when & where the given product was produced at the manufacturer.
*Remember to check all temperatures of the delivery truck.
ORDER/DELIVERY → TEMPERATURES OF THE TRUCK→ WORPLANNER → INVOICE → ORDER-NUMBER → LOT/BATCH NUMBER → MANUFACTURER
Trail Introduction and Health Inspections
To secure an elevated hygienic standard, every store has a self-monitoring plan (Trail). Trail contains our cleaning program and helps us monitor and document all temperatures, DCWF procedures and contains a detailed overview of all cleaning tasks. Furthermore, it contains the HACCP and self-monitoring plan which are a legal requirement to know about.
You access Trail from the store iPad. Each store will have its own account number which is used to log into the program. This can be found in Notes on your store iPad. When you log in, always choose to work from the tablet version (designed for iPad’s). You are only allowed to log in with your store login. Trail is designed to be easy to use and help us structure our cleaning tasks in the different time sections throughout the day: (Before open / Morning/ Lunch / Afternoon / All day).
Once you are logged in, there are three main tabs to choose from at the top left side of the screen: ‘Today’, ‘Filter’ and ‘Search tasks’.
The tasks must be completed on the given day when they appear on the system. This is to ensure the right frequency between the tasks so our stores are kept clean to the highest standard.
Trail overview
This section contains all the relevant tasks for the current day which will require completion before the end of the day. To complete, press on the task and tick it off, fill out temperatures, do a corrective action if needed and save the task. It will then appear as being completed. A task can’t be checked off before the entire task is completed.
Ticking off a cleaning task or a DCWF task as complete, without it being performed, is considered cheating and a direct violation. Cheating is NOT ACCEPTED and a warning will be given by the relevant manager.
The difference between our two tasks:
Cleaning task: is our daily cleaning task which must be completed every day. These task will change from day to day.
DCWF task: is the daily procedures that ensure our store runs well. These tasks will be identical from day to day.
HACCP analysis
HACCP is our self-inspection which explains how we control food handling and general cleaning procedures in the store. It is our risk assessment analysis and includes all risks when handling food operating a Joe & The Juice store. The Self-Monitoring Plan is our own documented plan, based on HACCP, that we put together to meet all demands related to local food laws. It is not required to know all content within the HACCP analysis, but it is a must to be able to refer to this when asked for it. But it is a must to know how to access and open the HACCP analysis in case a health and food safety inspection takes place in the store.
How to find the HACCP analysis on Trail:
Choose "Add Task" -> Select your market (Add)-> Choose word document to access HACCP -> Press "Done".
Monitoring food safety – Food Watch Connect (Only Dubai)
Food Watch is a digital platform for food safety which we use for our daily monitoring of our food handling procedures. The self-inspection tool on Food Watch Connect will help us managing food safety within our operation and at the same time manage our service providers (suppliers, pest contractors etc.)
This will be the platform you are to present to Dubai Municipality, if the situation occurs, as all the food safety data within our organisation will be presented here.
Step 1:
Front page of the Food Watch. Choose the “Veda Juice Coffee Shop” in the top:
Step 2:
Choose “inspections” in left corner:
Step 3:
Start by doing the “Start Up Inspection”. Choose “Available” if everything is according to standard. This should be done in the morning before opening.
Step 4:
Then do the “Equipment Check”. Select a piece of equipment from each station. Also due in the morning.
Sum Up: The Key Hygiene Stages and Critical Health Risks
- When working behind the bar it is essential to always have high personal hygiene standards.
- Always wash hands and use sanitiser immediately after handling the till station and before making a sandwich or juice products.
- No employees must attend work while ill with; diarrhea, vomiting, fever, or any other infectious disease.
- Disinfect sinks every night during the closing procedures.
- Rinse all fruit and vegetables before prepping.
- Disinfect sink no. 3 before additional prepping during the day.
- Always rinse dill, spring onion; basil thoroughly before prepping.
- Always wash and disinfect chopping boards and knives after prepping each ingredient.
- Be extra cautious with all hygiene procedures when prepping tuna mousse & pesto.
- Always clean & disinfect pesto bottles and blender cans thoroughly.
In JOE & THE JUICE, our hygiene is closely connected to the guest experience and brand representation. The stores represent who we are and how we treat our home with respect. We wash our hands not only to be hygienic but also to show humbleness and respect for our guests.