page+2

Health Codes When opening a new restaurant, it is important that you know your local health code and safety codes to assure that you can actually open your doors to the public. Though specific rules vary by county and state, each county’s food code will cover the same areas. Examples of regulated areas of the commercial kitchen include:
 * **Employee Hygiene.** Employees must be well groomed and in good health to handle food. If an employee is sick, you must send them home or assign them tasks that do not put them in contact with prepared foods.
 * **Restaurant Inspections.** Before a new restaurant opens, it must pass an initial health inspection. After they are open, restaurants are usually inspected twice a year. If a restaurant has a number of violations, it can be shut down to make corrections and get re-inspected.
 * **Facilities and Surfaces Cleaning.** Local health codes stipulate what cleaners and sanitizers are acceptable for restaurants to use. The codes also specify how frequently equipment and food contact surfaces should be cleaned. For example: a pan that is used to carry raw meat to the grill must be cleaned and sanitized before any prepared foods can be placed in it, to prevent raw meat juices from contaminating the prepared product.
 * **Food Handling, Storage and Preparation.** From the moment food supplies enter your establishment, you are responsible for them. There are specific health codes for handling, storage and preparation of food. For example: many health departments forbid employees from touching prepared, ready-to-eat foods with their hands. Employees must use disposable gloves instead.
 * **Equipment and Supplies.** County health departments often have very specific standards for three-compartment sinks. In general, most health departments require a specific slope to the drain boards. Slope means that the drainboards are pitched or tilted towards the bowls, so water will drain into the sink instead of pool on the drainboard. Local departments will also require the drainboards to be at least as wide and long as the sink bowls. If you are looking at a sink with 18” x 18” (L x W) bowls, the drainboards must be at least 18” square. Other pieces of equipment may have strict regulations as well.