General Interest
Looking After Your Customers
& keeping them safe from falling ILL.
Colleen Winterburn
You may not consider “food safety” a pressing concern if you’re a bartender mostly dealing with
drinks, but food safety isn’t just owned by the kitchen. If you haven’t had the proper training and
aren’t aware of safe practices, you could potentially harm a customer. Check out the list below to
check if your staff are doing the right thing. These are just a few basics that you may just overlook
because you are busy.
1. Don’t use a glass to scoop ice
Scooping the ice out of the bucket with the customer’s glass may be quicker but if you chip the
glass, all the ice is potentially dangerous not to mention even if you don’t chip the glass, you have
just contaminated the entire batch of ice with whatever germs your customer has.
2. Don’t pick up glasses by the rim
The rim of the glass is the best way to spread germs, you contaminate the glass with whatever is on your hands and it
goes directly into the customer’s mouth. Don’t forget people watch you when you get them drinks. Your reputation is
also important.
3. Wash your hands regularly
You should be washing your hands just as often as the chef. Think about the sticky cash tips you pick
up and how many dirty glasses and you’re constantly touching. They’re probably covered with viruses,
bacteria, and other unknown substances — yuck. Use soap and then rinse.
4. Don’t use a dirty towel to sweep crumbs off the bar
Just because something looks clean, doesn’t mean it is. This means, you can’t just take a towel and
smear contaminants around, you need to sanitize the bar to kill bacteria that could potentially harm a patron.
Remember, the bar is the center of your business. If your bar top isn’t disinfected, menus,
silverware, napkins, and other items can potentially be contaminated, putting everyone at
risk.
5. Washing glasses properly
Serving customers, a drink in a dirty glass is a major no-no. Not only does it look bad, but
it can also ruin a good beer and potentially get them sick. Staff should be trained to wash
glasses in hot water and dish soap then rinsed. Once glasses are washed, make sure to double check for remaining
lipstick stains, they can be pretty resilient.
6. Cleaning draft beer lines
Beer lines don’t just clean themselves. You need to clean your beer line and faucet parts weekly, or every time you
switch out a keg in order to flush out the old beer and make way for the new. If you don’t clean your draft lines,
you’re potentially leaving mold, bacteria, yeast, and dead fruit flies in there. Not only is this gross and potentially
harmful, it’s also detrimental to the taste of your beer.
7. Not picking your nose or licking your fingers or playing with your hair
These are bad habits many have and it happens subconsciously. By picking your nose, licking your fingers, playing
with your hair, you’re transferring germs from you to your customer. . Plus, anything that your fingers have touched
is going in your mouth — ew.
10. You wash Stubby Holders Often
Stubby Holders should be washed regularly eliminated passing on germs to customers and staff. Throw them into
the washing machine with some Dettol or any other disinfectant and leave to dry in the sun (the best bleach around
and it’s free).
By keeping your customers safe and happy you are securing your job because
they will be back again.
The MAG Vung Tau
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