NCCO International Food safety technology has come a long way. The pandemic helped expedite the need for new technologies to ensure safer kitchens. Businesses can now use automation to streamline kitchen operations, track food temperatures and hold times, and ensure proper date and FIFO labeling with digital label printers, among other things. As technology continues to advance, so does food safety and the methods we use to keep customers safe.
Here we discuss the way technology is helping shape the future of food safety, and how you can use tech to improve food safety in your business.
Food Safety Tracking
New technologies reduce the need for manual labor. No more need for hand labeling prep ingredients, FIFO dates, or other important information.
Automated technologies like NCCO’s DateCodeGenie, for example, print labels for everything you need in the kitchen. They are intuitive and is easy to use, allowing employees to make the transition quickly and easily, saving time and resources in the kitchen.
As the food safety discussion includes keeping patrons with allergies and dietary restrictions as well, automated labeling ensures all relevant information is clear and easy to read, not lost or forgotten in the shuffle.
Another innovation that will become increasingly common is the use of artificial intelligence to monitor food safety. Many AI vendors are creating products that can help monitor food and reduce human errors that can lead to sickness or worse.
Food Safety Training
Technology is increasingly helping businesses train their employees. Technology can expedite the training process by using training videos that ensure kitchen staff have a fundamental understanding of food safety best practices.
Always Food Safe, for example, offers Food Handler, Food Protection, and Allergen Awareness training and exams for all your kitchen staff.
Technology can help reduce what employees need to memorize as well, like product hold times, temperatures, etc., which helps employee learning focus on other important tasks in the kitchen.
Food Safety Communication
Technology can also be used for more efficient communication. Messaging systems and restaurant-focused apps can be used to notify employees instantly. If a food item is recalled, for example, and must be removed from shelves across multiple franchise or chain locations, a message or task can be sent out to the devices at each store.
This also improves accountability, as once employees have removed the item from the shelf, they can mark the task as completed, and management can also have a chance to follow up with stores that have not had a chance to comply.
Shaping the Future of Food Safety Across Multiple Industries
Technology can enhance food safety in kitchens in multiple industries. This does not mean, however, that the needs of each industry will be the same. To this end, NCCO is committed to serving the unique operational needs for kitchens of all types to help ensure solid food safety practices no matter what industry you’re operating in.