Pizza Today - June 2018 - 38

IN THE
THE KITCHEN
KITCHEN
IN

CRACKING THE HEALTH CODE
In knowing what most often catches health inspectors' attention,
restaurants can pay particular attention to kitchen hot spots

W

hen it comes to health
codes and food safety, Alex
Lyudmir isn't taking any

chances.
The co-owner of Rizzo's Fine Pizza
Co., a two-unit, family-owned concept
that's been dishing up pies in New York
City since 1959, Lyudmir believes the
quality of Rizzo's food is as important as
the environment in which it is prepared.
"We take food safety very seriously.
We owe that to our patrons," Lyudmir
says. "Besides having great tasting pizza,
that's how we stay ahead of the curve."
It's a mindset Rich Pruckler, a public
health investigator with the City of
Denver's Department of Public Health
& Environment, says many restaurant
establishments would be wise to share,
particularly given the fines health code
violations can bring and the damaging
effect food safety missteps can have on a
pizzeria's reputation.
"When operators can combine culinary passion with a responsibility to their
patrons and food safety, that's often a
recipe for success," says Pruckler, a former
restaurant manager himself.
3 8 / P I Z Z AT O D AY. C O M / J U N E 2 0 1 8

When inspecting a restaurant, Pruckler
says he and many other health inspectors
are most concerned with practices that
can get people sick, and three specific
issues draw particular attention:
* FOOD TEMPERATURES. The most
universally common health code violation in restaurants? That's easy, says Mary
FitzGerald, founder of Los Angelesbased Safe & Sound Food Safety
Consultants.
"It's always temperature violations,"
FitzGerald says.
Leaving foods such as sausage or
cheese or cooked pizza out too long at
room temperature increases the risk of
illness-causing bacteria. Pizzerias should
be mindful of keeping hot food at or
above 140 F while cold food should sit at
or below 40 F.
In a pizzeria kitchen, Pruckler
acknowledges it can be particularly
challenging to keep food cold given the
residual heat pizza ovens produce and
staff members' consistent opening and
closing of cooler doors. He suggests
"common sense tactics" such as keep-

S TO R Y DA NI EL P. SM I TH
P H OTO JO S H K EO W N

ing lids on containers, shutting doors,
using ice bags and turning the cooler's
temperature down, albeit incrementally.
Operators might also store potentially
non-hazardous foods such as croutons
or breads closest to the hottest areas and
use a calibrated thermometer - one
cleaned and sanitized between uses - to
regularly test the internal temperature of
foods.
* CROSS CONTAMINATION. According
to the World Health Organization, an
estimated 600 million people around the
world fall ill after eating contaminated
food each year. As a result, inspectors are
particularly sensitive to cross contamination - the transfer of bacteria from one
item to another.
Here, some mindful practices consistently executed go a long way. Food
contact surfaces, equipment and utensils
should be cleaned and sanitized or properly stored after each use, a critical step to
eliminating illness-causing pathogens. A
cook, for instance, cannot use a pizza cutter and then simply set it right at his side
for the next use, reminds Leon Lubarsky
of New York City-based Letter Grade
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