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News, views and ideas on managing your Planet Antares vending business.

Friday, July 25, 2008

Preventing Food Borne Diseases In Your Planet Antares Vending Machines

It is important for customers to purchase only safe products from your Planet Antares vending machines. For this, you will need to take the required steps to protect against products that could potentially pose a health threat. According to one estimate, about 76 million Americans suffer from food borne illness every year.

You should remember that you are in the food service business and not the food industry. That makes your company responsible for the safety of the food that is sold in the vending machine. About $2 billion per year in commissary prepared food or food purchased from outside sources is sold in the vending industry.

Your primary concern should be to ensure food safety. Planet Antares vending machines sell snacks and soft drinks, implying that the food safety concerns are not as high as those machines that are selling perishable, high risk foods such as egg, ham or chicken sandwiches. Safe food handling procedures must be followed in order to assure that the food products you receive is safe for putting into your Planet Antares vending machines.

One thing to remember is to wash your hands before servicing any Planet Antares vending machines at location. Your hands might get dirty while unloading the products onto your truck. Keeping your hands clean is an indication of your concern about the way you handle food. Even though the food is packaged, it is important to handle products with clean hands.

Another important factor is product freshness. You should always remove outdated snacks from the Planet Antares vending machines so that you don’t mix it with new snacks.

Before you load the new products, make sure that all the trays are clean and if any package is torn, place it with the outdated products. These will be removed and promptly replaced with new, in-demand products. Apart from maintaining hygiene in the vending machines, it is an effective way to retain customers and improve sales of your Planet Antares vending machines.

At least once a month, brush the condenser. Cleaning of the interior glass is also essential to keep your vending machines in top condition. Next, you must clean the exterior of Planet Antares vending machine. This can be done after the machine has been serviced.