Ohio reopens salad bars, self-service food stations in restaurants, banquet halls, other facilities – cleveland.com

Ohio reopens salad bars, self-service food stations in restaurants, banquet halls, other facilities – cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Ohio Health Director Stephanie McCloud signed an amended order reopening self-service food stations in restaurants, bars, banquet and catering facilities with certain conditions.

The order – which goes into effect at 11:59 tonight – Feb. 11 – includes responsibilities for both businesses as well as customers as a way to stem the spread of coronavirus. It stipulates the following:

• Customers must wear facial coverings while using, or in line for, self-service food stations. Those unable to wear a covering must be served by an employee.

• Buffet tables / salad bars must be at least six feet from customer seating, and lines must not extend into seating areas.

• Directional signage will map one-directional flow for customers, who must maintain social distancing.

• Customers must use hand sanitizer, which will be positioned at the beginning and end of the line. Signage instructing customers to do this must be posted.

• Employees must monitor social distancing between seated customers and those in line.

• Serving utensils must be replaced or sanitized at least hourly. It is recommended operators make available disposable napkins or tissues for customers to use when handling serving utensils. A trash receptacle should be located conveniently.

• Staff trained in food safety must continually monitor self-serve areas.

• Food must be protected from contamination, including maintaining sneeze guards on self-serve equipment.

Some of the standards have been in place since restaurants reopened last year. Use of individually packaged condiments is recommended. Commonly touched surfaces must be cleaned and sanitized frequently.

I am on cleveland.com’s life and culture team and cover food, beer, wine and sports-related topics. If you want to see my stories, here’s a directory on cleveland.com. Bill Wills of WTAM-1100 and I talk food and drink usually at 8:20 a.m. Thursday morning. And tune in at 8:05 a.m. Fridays for “Beer with Bona and Much, Much More” with Munch Bishop on 1350-AM The Gambler.

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Published at Fri, 12 Feb 2021 00:19:07 +0000