A salad bar can be a valuable addition to a restaurant. It adds versatility to the menu and can even serve as a restaurant's visual focal point. But operating a safe and effective salad bar or buffet requires a lot of work. Food safety needs to be a main ingredient of any salad bar to prevent foodborne illnesses. A sparkling-clean salad bar featuring fresh products will also win over customers and create good word of mouth. Here are some techniques for keeping your salad bar up to standards.

1. Prep work

Creating a safe salad bar starts in the back of the house. Kitchen staff should employ the following safety precautions when preparing foods for a salad bar.

• Thoroughly wash fruits and vegetables with running water — never in standing water, because dirt and microorganisms that are rinsed off one item could then spread to the next.
• Designate special knives and cutting boards for cutting fresh fruits and vegetables. Doing so helps prevent cross-contamination-the spread of germs from one food to another. You'll want to especially avoid using the same utensils for fresh produce as for poultry, raw meat or other potentially hazardous items. Consider using a color-coded system to easily identify the purpose of each knife and cutting board.
• Wear gloves or thoroughly wash your hands for 20 seconds in warm water before handling salad-bar items directly.
• Cook soups, meats, seafood and other cooked items to the proper temperatures listed in the Food and Drug Administration's Food Code. To deter bacteria growth, cool hot items before storing them in a refrigerator by using chill blasters, cooling wands or ice baths. If hot food must be cooled in the refrigerator, divide the food into small batches to quicken the cooling process.


2. Set-Up Procedures

Your salad bar's set up, its permanent design as well as the way the food is placed each shift, plays a large role in ensuring that you serve safe, fresh food.

• Protect food on display with sneeze guards or food shields. These shields should be about 14 to 18 inches above the food and in a direct line between the food and the mouth or nose of an average customer.
• Provide an ample number of long-handled tongs or spoons. If the handles aren't long enough, the utensils are more prone to slip into the bins and customers will have to touch the food to retrieve them. Store serving utensils in the food with handles above the container rim. Clean and sanitize or replace utensils at least once every four hours.
• Set up the salad bar as close to mealtime as possible to prevent perishables from sitting out any longer than necessary.
• Don't let produce such as cauliflower, mushrooms and berries sit in water-they will quickly deteriorate.
• Discourage grazing or tasting by properly identifying all foods on display. Label containers, post clear signs on the food shield and write the names of salad dressings on the ladle handles.
• Have plenty of clean plates available and post signs reminding customers to use a new plate on each visit to the salad bar to reduce the chances of cross-contamination.

3. Temperature Control

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, improper temperature controls are the leading cause of foodborne illness.

• Be sure the equipment used on your salad or buffet bar is able to maintain the proper temperatures-140 degrees Fahrenheit or above for hot holding and 41 degrees Fahrenheit or below for cold holding. Use methods such as ice baths or special chilling pans to keep items cold and steam tables to keep items hot.
• Make periodic food-temperature checks, say every two hours, to be sure the food is at the proper temperature.
• The Food and Drug Administration recommends that potentially hazardous items-such as egg or meat products, cooked items, and prepared foods containing mayonnaise-be kept on a salad bar at room temperature for no more than four hours.

4. Supervision

Keeping a salad bar in tip-top shape requires constant maintenance. Assign an adequate number of employees to supervise the salad bar throughout the shift. Staffers on salad-bar duty should:

• Keep all surface areas clean. Employees should quickly clean up any spills. Staffers should be made aware of the dangers of spreading germs through wiping cloths. Studies have shown that wiping cloths can contain enough foodborne microorganisms to make people sick. To prevent this from happening, store wiping cloths in sanitizing solution at the proper concentration at all times.
• Make sure customers obey safety procedures. Watch children closely, because they're more apt to reach into a food bin.
• Bring out clean plates and replenish foods properly. Never add freshly prepared food to food already on display. Put out only as much food as will be served in a short period of time to lessen the chance of spoilage and contamination. Use shallow salad bins that need to refilled frequently.

Keeping your salad bar up to standards is essential for your customers' safety as well as to maintain your restaurant's high-quality reputation.

For more information please contact the National Restaurant Association, or view their website at http://www.restaurant.org