What’s the buzz inside McDo’s kitchen?
March 4, 2007 | 12:00am
You will never see a McDonald’s crew member wiping the table at any McDonald’s store using a white towel with a green stripe on it. That’s because a white towel with a green stripe is used only at the chicken station. At the service counter, a white towel with a yellow stripe is used, while a white towel with a blue stripe is used for wiping the tables and chairs.
"All our towels are color-coded," says Mc Donald’s vice president for marketing, Margot Torres. "We have 72 towels in rotation in the store, which are placed in selected food preparation areas for hassle-free clean-up. Aside from the sanitized towels, our crew members also carry sanitizer spray bottles to clean tables and in-store fixtures."
Cleanliness is a key standard of success at McDonald’s. "From our research, we learned that our customers associate food quality and cleanliness with the McDonald’s brand," Torres notes. "It’s no secret, and this is the good news we want to share."
In the extremely competitive fast food industry, it’s easy to understand why the kitchen should naturally be off-limits to prying eyes. But at McDonald’s, they have a special day when they open their doors so their loyal customers can have a look inside their kitchen.
"The McDonald’s Open Door Program was first introduced in Australia about two years ago," Torres relates. "Last year, they held it in China. The Philippines is the third country to hold this event." First, members of the local media were invited to take a look at the kitchen of McDonald’s in El Pueblo in Pasig City on Feb. 20. And then, on Feb. 25, 14 participating branches of McDonald’s nationwide opened their kitchen doors to the public.
"Opening our kitchens reinforces our openness and transparency," Torres says. "Quality, Service, Cleanliness and Value (QSCV) are the four key words that have guided the way McDonald’s prepares its food. It brings consistency in all its products. Moms can feel at ease knowing that they are giving their children and the rest of the family only the freshest and best- quality meals."
The kitchen tour starts at the handwashing station. Before they enter the kitchen, or when they go to their workstations, the crew members first wash their hands at the washing station. It is not enough to say that their hands are clean. They are sanitized. "Our crew members sanitize every 30 minutes and wash their hands every hour with warm running water using specially formulated anti-microbial soap," Torres explains. They rinse their hands thoroughly for 20 seconds, then they use the automatic hand dryer to dry their hands. They do not leave the washing station until their hands are completely dry.
"They also wear different gloves during different stages of food preparation," Torres adds. "Color-coded spatulas for preparing raw and cooked eggs are used to prevent contamination." The color-coded towels are also soaked in lukewarm water with sanitizer in three separate pails to avoid contamination.
At the salad station, locally sourced vegetables are used. The prepared salads are kept in a cooler and the grilled chicken and croutons are only added immediately before an order is served.
McDonald’s fried chicken involves a seven-minute process, from battering, breading, tossing and frying. The tossing is repeated twice to ensure flakiness and crispiness while maintaining its juiciness. The frying is done in a specially designed equipment where the oil is filtered regularly to remove the residue. The internal temperature of the chicken is checked and should not be less than 140 degrees Fahrenheit to ensure that it is safe.
At the grill area, hamburgers are made with 100-percent pure beef with no additives, preservatives or flavor enhancers. The grilling equipment is internationally approved, and the hamburgers are also subjected to internal temperature and integrity checks.
The famous McDonald’s french fries are made from only the best-quality potatoes. They are specially blanched and processed so that maximum nutrients are retained. Even the salt dispenser is designed to dispense just the right amount of salt each time.
A critical area in the kitchen is the production control station. The production callers are trained and certified. They are the "bosses" of the kitchen.
They decide what to cook and how many orders to prepare at a given time. The food items have a maximum holding time and the caller is guided by the bin and cabinet level charts.
There are three important Cs among the kitchen crew  cooperation, coordination and communication. Everything that happens inside the McDonald’s kitchen happens like clockwork, with perfect regularity and precision. For the kitchen crew, timing is important  from the 20 seconds that it takes to rinse their sanitized hands to the maximum 10-minute bin holding time  so that we, the McDonald’s customers, can be assured of a good, and always safe, meal.
"All our towels are color-coded," says Mc Donald’s vice president for marketing, Margot Torres. "We have 72 towels in rotation in the store, which are placed in selected food preparation areas for hassle-free clean-up. Aside from the sanitized towels, our crew members also carry sanitizer spray bottles to clean tables and in-store fixtures."
Cleanliness is a key standard of success at McDonald’s. "From our research, we learned that our customers associate food quality and cleanliness with the McDonald’s brand," Torres notes. "It’s no secret, and this is the good news we want to share."
In the extremely competitive fast food industry, it’s easy to understand why the kitchen should naturally be off-limits to prying eyes. But at McDonald’s, they have a special day when they open their doors so their loyal customers can have a look inside their kitchen.
"The McDonald’s Open Door Program was first introduced in Australia about two years ago," Torres relates. "Last year, they held it in China. The Philippines is the third country to hold this event." First, members of the local media were invited to take a look at the kitchen of McDonald’s in El Pueblo in Pasig City on Feb. 20. And then, on Feb. 25, 14 participating branches of McDonald’s nationwide opened their kitchen doors to the public.
"Opening our kitchens reinforces our openness and transparency," Torres says. "Quality, Service, Cleanliness and Value (QSCV) are the four key words that have guided the way McDonald’s prepares its food. It brings consistency in all its products. Moms can feel at ease knowing that they are giving their children and the rest of the family only the freshest and best- quality meals."
The kitchen tour starts at the handwashing station. Before they enter the kitchen, or when they go to their workstations, the crew members first wash their hands at the washing station. It is not enough to say that their hands are clean. They are sanitized. "Our crew members sanitize every 30 minutes and wash their hands every hour with warm running water using specially formulated anti-microbial soap," Torres explains. They rinse their hands thoroughly for 20 seconds, then they use the automatic hand dryer to dry their hands. They do not leave the washing station until their hands are completely dry.
"They also wear different gloves during different stages of food preparation," Torres adds. "Color-coded spatulas for preparing raw and cooked eggs are used to prevent contamination." The color-coded towels are also soaked in lukewarm water with sanitizer in three separate pails to avoid contamination.
At the salad station, locally sourced vegetables are used. The prepared salads are kept in a cooler and the grilled chicken and croutons are only added immediately before an order is served.
McDonald’s fried chicken involves a seven-minute process, from battering, breading, tossing and frying. The tossing is repeated twice to ensure flakiness and crispiness while maintaining its juiciness. The frying is done in a specially designed equipment where the oil is filtered regularly to remove the residue. The internal temperature of the chicken is checked and should not be less than 140 degrees Fahrenheit to ensure that it is safe.
At the grill area, hamburgers are made with 100-percent pure beef with no additives, preservatives or flavor enhancers. The grilling equipment is internationally approved, and the hamburgers are also subjected to internal temperature and integrity checks.
The famous McDonald’s french fries are made from only the best-quality potatoes. They are specially blanched and processed so that maximum nutrients are retained. Even the salt dispenser is designed to dispense just the right amount of salt each time.
A critical area in the kitchen is the production control station. The production callers are trained and certified. They are the "bosses" of the kitchen.
They decide what to cook and how many orders to prepare at a given time. The food items have a maximum holding time and the caller is guided by the bin and cabinet level charts.
There are three important Cs among the kitchen crew  cooperation, coordination and communication. Everything that happens inside the McDonald’s kitchen happens like clockwork, with perfect regularity and precision. For the kitchen crew, timing is important  from the 20 seconds that it takes to rinse their sanitized hands to the maximum 10-minute bin holding time  so that we, the McDonald’s customers, can be assured of a good, and always safe, meal.
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