Health & Safety


What You Need to Know About FIFO Icon
What You Need to Know About FIFO

FIFO – or "first in, first out" – is a food storage system that maintains the quality of ingredients in cold and dry storage. Learn more about it at KaTom.

Flyspotting: Flies & Sanitation in Your Restaurant Icon
Flyspotting: Flies & Sanitation in Your Restaurant

Flies are a huge headache for restaurant operators and a red flag for health inspectors. KaTom explains how to keep them out.

To Catch a Bacterium Icon
To Catch a Bacterium

CSI: Commercial Kitchen? Forensic Sanitarian Dr. Robert Powitz explains how crime investigation techniques help operators and the courts.

Restaurant Food Safety: The Unusual Suspects Icon
Restaurant Food Safety: The Unusual Suspects

Ice scoops and oven mitts? Don't let these small-time food safety offenders bring your foodservice business to its knees.

Wages: The Sick Truth Icon
Wages: The Sick Truth

Low wages and no paid sick days lead to foodservice employees working when they're ill. Is your sick policy impacting your food safety?

Food Safety Education for National Food Safety Month Icon
Food Safety Education for National Food Safety Month

September is National Food Safety Month. Use ServSafe's weekly resources to ensure your establishment complies with food safety guidelines.

The Waffle House Index Icon
The Waffle House Index

Wondering why FEMA uses the Waffle House Index during hurricanes and other natural disasters? Learn more about the color-coded system here.

Restaurant Kitchen Fires: Safety, Prevention, and Recovery Icon
Restaurant Kitchen Fires: Safety, Prevention, and Recovery

Read KaTom's tips on how to reduce the odds of a restaurant kitchen fire and what the recovery process looks like if a fire does break out.

Serving Guests with Food Allergies Icon
Serving Guests with Food Allergies

15 million Americans suffer from food allergies. Learn how to safely serve them and make your eatery a trusted allergy-friendly destination.

KaTom's College Sanitation Solutions Icon
KaTom's College Sanitation Solutions

Seeking sanitation solutions for classrooms, dorms, and university buildings? Partner with KaTom to protect students and faculty on campus.

Food Delivery Safety & Your Restaurant Icon
Food Delivery Safety & Your Restaurant

Delivering food can open up new revenue streams, but also creates potential safety hazards. Join KaTom as we explore food delivery safety.

Restaurants and Medical Emergencies Icon
Restaurants and Medical Emergencies

Should restaurants keep EpiPens on hand? Can servers perform the Heimlich maneuver? More importantly, what are they legally able to do?

Requirements for Refrigerated Vaccine Storage Icon
Requirements for Refrigerated Vaccine Storage

Learn about CDC and VFC vaccine storage guidelines and what kind of refrigerators and freezers your healthcare facility needs to store them.

Cleaning vs. Sanitizing Icon
Cleaning vs. Sanitizing

An easy-to-understand guide to cleaning vs. sanitizing, as well as the ways that each method should be used to keep a restaurant safe.

Most Common Health Code Violations to Avoid Icon
Most Common Health Code Violations to Avoid

Health code violations can result in sick customers, lost business, and worse. Find some of the most common violations, and ways to prevent them, here.

Microban and Other Antimicrobial Products in Foodservice Icon
Microban and Other Antimicrobial Products in Foodservice

Foodservice equipment and supplies manufacturers now offer more products that include antimicrobials like Microban. Learn more about those protections here.

Requirements for Gloves & Hair Nets in Restaurants Icon
Requirements for Gloves & Hair Nets in Restaurants

If your cooks aren't wearing gloves and hair nets, your restaurant could be violating the FDA Food Code's requirements for employee hygiene.

Walk-in Freezer & Cooler Safety Icon
Walk-in Freezer & Cooler Safety

Learn how walk-in coolers and freezers are designed to prevent foodservice employees from becoming accidentally trapped inside.

What is HARPC? Icon
What is HARPC?

Food safety has taken another step forward with the introduction of HARPC, a set of best practices that helps protect food in the processing stage.

Restaurant Dumpster Dangers Icon
Restaurant Dumpster Dangers

Dumpsters and waste management are often pain points for restaurateurs. From employee theft to fires, we cover how to navigate potential dumpster dangers.

Understanding Food Safety Terms Icon
Understanding Food Safety Terms

Understanding HACCP plans, first-in-first-out food rotation, and other food safety practices helps protect your customers and your business.

HACCP Made Simple(r) Icon
HACCP Made Simple(r)

HACCP plans don't have to be complicated. Follow these steps to implement a food safety plan in your independent restaurant.

Restaurant Fire Suppression Systems Icon
Restaurant Fire Suppression Systems

Understanding how your commercial kitchen's fire suppression system works and how to maintain can enable you to ensure it will work when you need it.

Handwashing: Where, When, and How Icon
Handwashing: Where, When, and How

This guide breaks down the 2017 FDA Food Code on hand washing right down to how to choose the right hand sink for your establishment.