Importance of Standardized Recipes in Food Service Settings

Diet Consultant at Safe Food Caterers(SFC) at Tabba Heart Institute (THI), Karachi, Pakistan.

Corresponding Author: Zainab Hussain RLAK College of Home Economics, Karachi, Pakistan, Tel:+921 99230703; E-Mail: [email protected]

Received Date: 06 Mar 2017    Accepted Date: 07 Mar 2017    Published Date: 08 Mar 2017

Copyright © 2017 Hussain Z

Citation: Hussain Z. (2017). Importance of Standardized Recipes in Food Service Settings. Mathews J  Diabetes Obes 1(1): 005.

SHORT COMMUNICATION

Standardization involves the process of developing standards based on the mutual decisions of different parties to help in maximizing compatibility, interoperability, safety and repeatability. Standards should be set in each and every field of life. Set standards persue the development of any industry.  In food service, numerous production controls are needed to confirm that pre-established standards for quality are consistently met. Standardization of recipes is the most important control tool for ensuring that less wastage of food is done. A recipe is said to be standardized when it has been tried, tested, evaluated and adapted for use by a food service under controlled conditions. The food service sets certain criteria for standardization of its recipes including customers demand and effective use of its resources to meet those demands. Standardized recipes produce a consistent quality and yield every time when the exact procedures, equipment, and ingredients are used and help ensure that the best possible food items are produced every time The advantages of standardization to a food service include the same consistency of food prepared everytime and nutrient content with the food cost and inventory controlled. Moreover, product taste and appearance will be the same from cook to cook. In addition to these, efficient purchasing will be done as the cook will know how much quantity is required for a certain product and guesswork will be eliminated. It will also help in minimizing the effects of employee turnover on food quality. But there are some disadvantages too including the difficulty to be creative in the bar or behind the kitchen. Also, it will take time to train production staff to follow recipes precisely. Moreover, by standardizing the recipes, market barriers are sometimes created. In turn these barriers and economic and regulatory dead weight can possibly create costs. To overcome these issues, the foodservice must ensure computerized operations because individually coded recipes might trigger other functions like purchasing. So, they should be printed with clear instructions and kept in an accessible area. Compliance should be provided to use the recipe by each shift member for continued quality and consistency, and ultimately repeat customers.