Jolt’s Digital Food Safety Software

Real Time Alerts and Notifications

The sooner you know about an unexpected change in temperature in your restaurant’s freezer or coolers, the sooner you can correct the issue and save significant money. With real time alerts, you will be notified when the temperature goes above or below the acceptable range. This allows you to remedy the situation before any spoilage, thawing, or other loss of inventory can take place. Emergencies such as power outages, equipment malfunctions, and tampering can all just as easily occur during closing hours as they can while your business is open. In the event that something does happen while your location is closed, you will not need to wait until it is too late, and staff arrives to open the restaurant, to be alerted to the problem. You and those you select,  will receive a notification immediately on your mobile device.

Never Lose Logged Data Again

When the health department inspector asks to see your temperature logs, it will behoove you to be able to present them with the required data in an easy to read, well organized format. Jolt’s digital data storage enables you to easily access the requested logs without having to search through a ratty old paper notebook or checklist. Another advantage is that your records will not be lost, or simply misplaced in a physical log book. Digital record keeping is also safe from tampering by inept or malicious parties. It also gives you a picture of the trends in your refrigeration equipment, which allows you to quickly see if your equipment is in need of maintenance, such as a slow increase in temperature over time, resulting from a small leak in refrigerant gas.  These issues are usually much easier, and cheaper to fix if you catch them early before catastrophic failure. Your data can be automatically archived to give you an accurate long term picture of your measurements over time. In addition to temperature logs, Jolt helps with other records, such as photo proof built directly into our digital forms, that sanitization levels were always correct throughout the period.  You can also demonstrate that all other practices such as hand washing audits, manager walkthroughs, etc. were carried out correctly.  

When you take the time and effort to ensure that your establishment adheres to the highest standards of food safety, you will quickly gain a reputation for being a trustworthy business and the health department will treat you as such.

You will save a lot of money and labor resources when you don’t need to waste inventory because of incorrect storage procedures, and your management and staff will take pride in being part of a business that values quality and the safety of their customers.

Next time you have a health department inspection, wouldn’t it be nice to be overwhelmed with kudos and praise for your practices, rather than with lists of changes that need to be made before the reinspection deadline? Stop worrying about the potential of having to pay fines, deal with closures, and protect your business from liability surrounding foodborne illness complaints.

By following industry best practices, automated temperature monitoring, and immaculate record keeping, you protect yourself, your company, your staff, and your customers and offer the highest quality product and experience.  

Although the specific requirements of a health inspection vary from state to state, and sometimes even from city to city, most health departments follow the guidelines laid out by the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) of the USDA. It’s a good idea to check with your local health department before making any systematic changes in your business, but the following criteria are described below to give a general idea of what the health inspectors are looking for when they visit your establishment. Whether your health inspection is a routine semiannual one, or is a required visit as the result of a customer complaint, you can in your food safety compliance and pass with flying colors by following industry best practices.

• Handwashing: Employees should wash their hands after handling raw food, touching their face, blowing their nose, using the restroom, handling money, or cleaning, and always before handling food. The proper handwashing technique is to wet the hands with hot (110-120 degrees fahrenheit) running water, apply soap, scrub for 20 seconds or more, rinse the hands, and dry with a clean towel or disposable paper towel. 
• Temperature Control: Since bacteria grows most readily between the temperatures of 40 degrees and 140 degrees Fahrenheit, this range is considered the “food safety danger zone.”  Foods should be stored above or below this food safety danger zone for safety. Frozen foods should be kept below 0 degrees Fahrenheit to. Hot foods must be cooled within two hours if they are going into the refrigerator. Meat must be cooked to a safe internal temperature depending on the type of meat you are cooking. All sensors, thermometers, and probes are calibrated and give accurate readings. You must maintain a temperature log of all recorded temperatures your operation.  Typically, these logs must be retained and immediately available to inspectors for a minimum of 3 years, but as always, check with your health department for your specific requirements.
• Food Safety Knowledge of Management and Staff: The health inspector will likely ask questions of a randomly selected employee and/or manager. They’ll want to know if your staff has been educated about safe food handling procedures, so it’s important that all of your team members have access to this information and learn it as part of their training. To ensure that this training is done correctly, ensure that all of your staff obtains a “Food Handler’s permit” from you local health department.  Additionally, consider having your management complete the National Restaurant Association’s ServSafe certification program to ensure that all the current best practices are available in your location.  
• Dish Washing: The inspector will check that all dishes are being cleaned and sterilized either by hand or with a dishwasher. If by hand, the 3 sink method should be used, in which dishes are first washed in soapy water, then rinsed, then dipped in a sterilization solution. When washing dishes the chemical sanitizer levels need to be in the correct concentration.  This is verified by using chemical test strips that are matched appropriately for the type of sanitizer you are using (bleached based or quaternary based).  In all cases you will want to show photo/sensor evidence that the proper sanitization levels (ppm) or water temperature were maintained during the sanitization process,
• Labeling: Stored foods should be kept in sanitary containers with lids, and these containers need to be properly labeled. At minimum, labels need to include the following information: the name of the food (for example, lobster bisque or blueberries), the date it was prepared, and the use by date.  Additional information that helps ensure proper accountability is the name of the person preparing the food. Employees should be diligent in throwing out or composting food that is past the use by date. If inspectors see expired food in your cooler or line stations, they will certainly be taking action. 
• Cleanliness: All surfaces and utensils should be cleaned and sanitized before being used to prepare food. There should not be any cross contamination, meaning utensils and containers used with one type of food should not be used for another type of food without being washed first. The walls, ceilings, and floors need to be visibly clean and free of grease or mold. While ceiling tiles in dining rooms can typically be normal acoustic tiles, the ceiling tiles above kitchen & food prep areas must be washable tiles.  It should go without saying that the inspector should not see any visible dirt, pests, or animals in the kitchen.