Hygiene aspect of food premises: Building, Materials Used, Flooring, Interior Walls and Ceiling

A good kitchen will have to have its blueprints exquisitely planned out. Safety of staff and cleanliness of kitchen are 2 major points to take note of. Thus the dimensions of the kitchen, together with the materials used for the floor, walls and ceiling are crucial in promoting the most conducive environment to work in.

I will be sharing some insights on the appropriate designs and type of materials suitable to be part of the kitchen. Starting with the area size, materials used for the floor, the walls, ad followed by the ceiling.

Building

It involves the effectiveness in floor planning that ensures maximum usage of space for equipment, storage without compromising the efficiency of work and operations.

layout of an Asian kitchen in Temasek Polytechnic

This organisation of the kitchen equipment, storage areas together with the work areas are planned out in such a way that it maximises the space to fit everything while providing a walkway that allows staff to move around easily. There can be many ways of organising your kitchen, so long as it is able to fit all the equipment you need without introducing unnecessary hazards and it is user friendly, your kitchen layout  can be carried out.

Materials Used: Flooring, Interior Walls, Ceiling

The materials used for kitchens are very important as accidents due to the designing of the floor, walls or ceiling is the last thing we want to happen.

Materials in general:

• materials for the interior structure of the kitchen should be easy to clean and maintain
• resistant to absorption of moisture and grease
• reflects light

Reasoning of the types of materials used regarding to kitchen hygiene *important*:

• Mainly to prevent molds and bacteria to grow and accumulate in the kitchen so that kitchen hygiene will not be compromised- no or little cracks and corners for the interior design of kitchen(walls and floors)
• Prevent build up of harmful microbes, grease, dust- kitchen should be easy to clean, and must be cleaned regularly(mainly walls)
• Prevent breeding/presence of pest- as pests carry many microbes which can contaminate food items, seeing any signs of pest should result in calling the pest control over to deal with the situation and measures should be taken against them
• Ceilings should not have ornaments or designs of any kind that can lead to the build up of dust as they can fall into the food below

Flooring:

The kitchen floor is often exposed to sudden increase in high temperatures and damage from corrosive chemicals. Also, frequent washing, moisture make kitchen floors susceptible to damages like cracks.

The kitchen floor should be

• strong, durable and easy to clean
• seamless to avoid mold, germs and bacteria from growing in small cracks. (molds and bacteria can accumulate in small cracks which can be hard to clean) e.g. E. Coli & S. Aureus
• moisture resistant to prevent mold and dangerous microbes from building up

* There should also be covings, a curved, sealed edge placed between the floor and the wall to eliminate sharp corner or gap, for easy cleaning of the kitchen.*

The interior walls should be:

• impervious to grease, food particles and water.
• smooth and even (should not be any buckles, ledges or exposed fixings)
• easy to clean

The ceiling should be:

• of an average height of more than 2400mm (including all preparation and storage areas)
• smooth, with no perforation or exposed joints, cracks or crevices
• free of suspended acoustic tile ceilings in food preparation areas or where food is displayed or served

The design of the flooring, walls and ceiling are in such a way that it ensures the cleanliness of the kitchen. Grease, dirt and dust should be easily spotted and cleaned with detergents to prevent food contamination. Ceilings should not have any pipes of any sort that could habour pests.

Of course the above guidelines may not be absolute, and they are also just some of the many points we can all take note of when designing a kitchen plan and it's interior design.