Professional kitchens are stressful places.
81% of chefs report having experienced poor mental health in their careers. Key problems that contribute to stress include staff shortages (58%), lack of time (43%), limited budgets (42%) and lack of daylight, with 41% saying this negatively impacts wellbeing. These concerns, mixed in with running a profitable kitchen, which is not easy at all, make it is unsurprising that so many professionals are feeling the pressure.
While many chefs and restaurant owners want to engage in operating a restaurant, the reality is that this comes with another significant and often complicated burden: complying with food safety and waste management regulations.
Professional kitchens must ensure processes are up to scratch here. For instance, do they comply with the latest food hygiene and waste regulations, and labelling requirements? And, how can they improve this aspect of their operations? Adhering to food waste and hygiene regulations requires understanding, and a united approach which removes the risk of human-based error.
What waste reduction regulation is out there today?
Kitchen operations are rife with food waste. In Europe we see attempts to reduce waste by mandating that organisations comply with relevant in-country regulations. For example, the Food Information to Consumers (FIC) Regulation (EU No 1169/2011) covers allergen labelling, “Best Before” and “Use By” labelling – all of which have been put in place primarily to protect consumers from foodborne illnesses.
Various countries have also created their own waste reduction regulations to adhere to. Germany, is known for its strict waste management laws – and retailers and restaurants must separate food waste to support recycling and bioenergy generation efforts. In contrast, France’s 2016 Food Waste Law mandates that any unsold edible food from supermarkets must be donated to charities, and that restaurants that exceed a certain size must track their waste and surplus food.
Portugal, in comparison, has its National Program to Combat Food Waste. Hospitality businesses here are encouraged to donate surplus food and adopt better labelling strategies that help with waste reduction, and which support food traceability. While in Spain, the 2022 Food Waste Law expects hospitality businesses to track food usage, and to partner with food redistribution platforms for unsold items. Meanwhile, in the UK, DEFRA incentivises organisations to adopt labelling technologies that reduce food spoilage, which inadvertently helps to reduce food waste.
Collectively these regulations play a crucial role in protecting consumers and reducing food waste, and helping businesses and consumers make informed decisions about food consumption and storage – and clear and consistent labelling forms a key component of this.
Why manual labeling is a huge gamble
Labels not only play an important role in waste reduction in kitchens, but also in food production.
Take this example: A large can of tomatoes is opened. A portion is used to make a meal, the rest is left in the can or transferred to another container. In many European professional kitchens, it is essential to store a sample of the food that was cooked with a label detailing allergens and ingredients, production dates and “Use By/Best Before” information. It is also important to the regulators to label the leftover tomato container, to indicate when it was opened.
In this scenario, labels played a critical dual-role in ensuring the required information is recorded and shared. The persistent problem, however, is that many kitchens still use manual labelling processes, such as recording information with a pen and paper. You may wonder why this method isn’t suitable? On the surface, it may seem like a good approach, but often the paper used isn’t adequate or waterproof; the labels fall off; handwriting can be illegible; wrong information is recorded; and there is no standard look or feel.
All of these human-led errors can be costly. In this fast-paced regulatory-driven environment, businesses need to consider: Is this really sufficient compared to the more efficient, accurate, cost-effective and straightforward real-time printed and linerless labelling solutions available?
Accurate labeling is vital in kitchens
Natasha’s Law came into effect in the UK in 2021, requiring full ingredient and allergen labelling on pre-packed food for direct sale (PPDS), reinforcing the importance of accurate and clear food labelling.
Pre-printed labels are a highly effective approach in meeting these standards and improving food traceability. For instance, these labels can indicate the ingredients that were used in batch cooking, the production date of a particular batch, display allergen information, and provide essential information about the contents of food stored in containers.
Real-time printed labels are also used to demonstrate when produce has been removed from freezers and can support ‘Use By’ and ‘Best Before’ management. When this information is linked to a barcode and integrated into a back-end traceability and data management system, kitchens gain powerful data-driven capabilities for inventory and process management too.
So, while demand for waste reduction is rising, meeting food hygiene standards has been a non-negotiable for a very long time. From the UK-specific Natasha’s Law to the EU-wide European Regulation from 2002 (178/2002), professional kitchens have to ensure perfection is achievable in maintaining safety standards.
Linerless Labels – perfection in food hygiene and waste reduction
Using linerless labels in restaurants and kitchens can solve these challenges. Variable length linerless label printing involves printing a label that has no sticky plastic backing to peel off. It can come in variable lengths, depending on the label, benefiting the kitchen with more ‘print’ from their rolls. Since there is no plastic backing, this helps kitchens optimise label printing and reduces waste.
These printers can also be configured and aligned with restaurant front of house, back of house and wider back-end management systems. This helps ensure that systems are printing and recording accurate data – all of which informs the operator about the status of their kitchens.
Ultimately, professional kitchens need to ensure that they are meeting the various UK and EU food hygiene and waste management regulations on the market today, regardless of all the other challenges faced. Printed linerless labels provide kitchens with an easy solution to meet these requirements and regulatory commitments.
Find out more about the modern, accurate, eco-friendly food labelling and traceability solutions we have available today. Please visit https://bixoloneu.com/product-type/bixolon-food-label-printer/
