Pizza Today - March 2017 - 38

Condiments, like any other food,
can be a source of illness if they are
not maintained properly. Food safety

is an important public health issue
for restaurants and anyone who eats
in them, according to the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, which
notes that foodborne illness is a common, costly and yet preventable public
health problem.
The CDC estimates that each year
roughly one in six Americans (or
48 million people) get sick, 128,000 are
hospitalized and 3,000 die of foodborne diseases.
While ensuring condiments are safe
is a never-ending practice, many that
pizzerias commonly provide on their
tabletops will last a long time if properly maintained.
"Parmesan has a shelf life of about
a year," Cannon says. "If the owners
keep it in the freezer at night it will last
longer than that."
The most important rule of maintaining Parmesan cheese and other
condiments is to be sure not to add
moisture to them.
"Stay away from moisture. Keep it as
dry as possible," Cannon advises.
Cannon recommends wiping containers several times a day with a dry
cloth. When the containers are washed
and refilled, be sure they are dry before
adding cheese. Wiping containers with
a wet cloth is a big no-no.
"All that does is add moisture to the
top of the shaker," Cannon says. "You
can get mold in there. Once you have
mold in a food item, it's porous. It can
collect anything."
In keeping with Cannon's recommendations, Kwok says his restaurant
removes Parmesan cheese from their
tables daily.
"We wrap it and bring it to the
fridge," Kwok says. "You have to do that
so moisture doesn't get into it."
To ensure the Parmesan cheese has
not lost its flavor, Kwok directs his
employees not to fill the cheese shakers
to the top, which means they have be
refilled every few days with new cheese.

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Cannon says there are signs to watch
for that show that Parmesan cheese has
lost its flavor. "When Parmesan gets
old it gets lighter in color," he says. "It
almost becomes beige. When it gets
really old, it turns white."
Shaking the container can provide an
indicator of whether mold has invaded.
"If the clumps of cheese break up,
you're fine," Cannon says. "If they don't,
throw it out. There could be mold."
While Parmesan cheese can have
a long shelf life, spices, including
salt, pepper, oregano and red pepper flakes, can last even longer.

"Dried spices will last forever,"
Cannon says. "But they can lose their
potency, their flavor."
Despite their expected longevity,
Cannon says spices should be changed
weekly, and the containers should be
wiped clean with a dry cloth regularly.
"That is as much to have employees
looking at them and seeing that they
are clean," he says.
For red pepper flakes, "we actually
have servers smell and taste them.
That's to make sure they haven't lost
their potency and the customer will
have a good experience," Cannon says.
Making sure that staff members
are regularly checking the quality and
cleanliness of spice, cheeses and their
containers can avoid other nasty problems such as flies using them as a place
to lay eggs.
"Believe it or not that won't make
you sick, but it looks gross," Cannon
says.
While many diners enjoy dipping
bread into olive oil or using oil and
vinegar to dress a salad, Cannon
does not recommend keeping those
items on the table, and not just for
the cost. Problems with vegetable oils

can develop if they are kept throughout the day in an environment that
changes.
"You're cooking it (in the sunlight)
and then it goes dark," Cannon says.
"You're changing the temperature of

this item. That shortens its shelf life. I'd
rather have them (staff ) bring them out
to the table. It looks better and you can
keep it refrigerated."
Just like olive oil, Cannon recommends keeping ranch dressing refrigerated and bringing it only upon a
customer's request.
That's a practice that Kwok follows.
He also provides truffle oil, extra virgin
olive oil and roasted garlic oil that diners can choose to have drizzled on their
pizza by staff.
Cannon and Kwok agree that paying
attention to condiments is important.
"Just one case of a foodborne illness
could ruin your business," Cannon says.
"And it could ruin someone else's life." n
ANNEMARIE MANNION is a freelance writer
living in the Chicago area. She specializes
in business and health stories.

Don't Mix
and Mingle
Marriage is a good thing, right?
Not when it comes to some condiments.
Mixing bottles of older condiments
(such as ketchup or mustard) with
newer ones is not a practice that
Howard Cannon of Restaurant Expert
Witness endorses.
"Ketchup, mustard and mayonnaise
can go bad in a heartbeat," Cannon
says. "Ketchup, by itself, carries a lot
of food-borne illness. You really have
to keep on top of managing anything
with a tomato base."
Combining old and new means that
the fresh ketchup becomes just as old
as the ketchup at the bottom, Cannon
says.
"You're better off to keep the
container clean, but let it go empty,"
Cannon says.
Rather than wiping bottle tops with
a wet cloth, he recommends removing
them and washing them. Save older
tops and re-use them while the newer
ones are being washed.

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Pizza Today - March 2017

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