Schools across the country are working hard to bring today’s youth the best in quality nutrition and kids food safety. But with millions of mouths to feed on a daily basis, sometimes it can be tricky to find the right balance between quick and healthy, and it can be difficult to gauge what kids will or will not eat. With the volume of waste on the rise in school cafeterias, it’s imperative that kids learn to take responsibility for eating what is provided, just as much as it is the school’s responsibility to provide lessons in proper nutrition and food safety for kids.
Kids food safety is imperative in school kitchens and cafeterias. Making sure staff is properly trained and has experience dealing with food and kitchen equipment is the first step toward kids food safety. Food safety and sanitation are important aspects of providing healthy food for children. Improper food preparation, handling, or storage can quickly result in food being contaminated with germs that may lead to serious illnesses such as hepatitis A or diarrheal diseases if the contaminated food is eaten. Regarding kids food safety, staff should always properly store, handle and serve food and should follow necessary rules and steps to ensure proper kids food safety procedures. Straying from kitchen principles may result in serious consequences.
And when food leaves the kitchen, kids should also be aware of the hazards of improper food handling and consumption. Kids food safety also includes proper hand washing before and after eating, never sharing food items, straws or utensils, and proper discarding off food in waste receptacles. Kids should never eat food that falls on the floor.