One of the greatest threats to a restaurant or foodservice brand is the spread of foodborne illness. Customers experiencing sickness, hospitalization, or worse yet death, as a result of your food preparation is devastating. Just one improperly handled piece of meat can make people extremely sick. The ramifications can be harmful to your customers and enormous to your business.

The impact of a food safety crisis can cause long-term sales decline or even bankruptcy.

For emerging brands, or the countless businesses still recovering from the losses suffered during Covid-19 mandated closures, the financial and consumer perception implications of even a localized crisis could be catastrophic. You may need to permanently shut down your business before you can even begin to recover or realize the potential of your brand. To this point, food safety standards must be a top priority for any restaurant in order to protect your customers, your brand’s reputation, and your business’ value.

ONE SIMPLE SOLUTION TO MITIGATE FOODBORNE ILLNESS RISKS
Removing cooking from raw operations from your restaurant and foodservice kitchens, by sourcing precooked meats from a USDA approved facility, is one of the easiest ways to mitigate the risk associated with handling raw meat or serving undercooked proteins.  Eliminating raw proteins significantly lessens the potential of cross-contaminated products or improperly cooked meats in your kitchen.

Sous vide cooked proteins arrive sealed, seasoned, fully-cooked to your specifications, and fresh or frozen in a pasteurized pouch that your team finishes on your existing kitchen equipment. Customers still enjoy the restaurant experience – seeing flames kiss their steak on the grill or inhaling the aroma of freshly roasted chicken breast – without the risk of consuming a dangerous, undercooked meal.

An added benefit to converting to precooked proteins is that the ideal cooking method for commercial proteins is the sous vide process, utilized by Miniat. Sous vide cooked meats are scientifically-proven to be more tender and flavorful than conventionally-cooked meats. The precision of sous vide cooking is nearly impossible to duplicate when cooking from scratch in your restaurant.

Meticulous control over the water temperature and product cook cycle have a transformative effect on all cuts of meat and poultry – from the most delicate to the toughest – resulting in tender, juicy, flavorful products. Proteins are perfectly cooked every time.

This one change could protect your brand, your earnings, and your customers from tremendous risk while delivering a delicious menu item again and again.

THE SIGNIFICANT RISKS OF MEAT PROTEINS

Land animals, including chicken, beef, pork, and turkey, are accountable for nearly 50% of foodborne illnesses. If meat is the focus of your menu, you have an increased level of susceptibility to foodborne illness and your food safety protocols must be managed tightly to ensure the health of your patrons.

One of the most well-known cases of foodborne illnesses was an E. coli crisis that caused hundreds of the brand’s consumers to become ill and multiple deaths. While several factors along the restaurant supply chain likely contributed to the contamination, consistently undercooked meat was the primary culprit. Had proper cooking temperatures been reached, experts agree that the bacteria would have been killed, effectively eliminating the outbreak .**

Along with the negative customer association linked to widespread illness, the outbreak cost the company millions of dollars to implement changes to their food safety protocols and communicate these changes through advertising campaigns.

THE BENEFITS OF SOUS VIDE
In a demanding, high-volume restaurant or commercial kitchens, utilizing sous vide precooked proteins provides the critical benefit of Speed, as well as these incremental benefits to your operation:

  • Consistent Customer Experience with tender, evenly-cooked meat products.
  • Versatility to finish sous vide products using a variety of cooking methods.
  • Streamlined Operations to reduce kitchen prep and finishing steps.
  • Added Value with increased product shelf-life and reduced food waste.
  • Food Safety mitigation with lessened cross-contamination and undercooked meat risks.