From food contact surfaces to staff personal hygiene down to the table linens, hygiene and cleanliness are essential to safely running any foodservice establishment. Regular cleaning, sanitization, and disinfection reduce the risk of foodborne illnesses and cross-contamination.
While effective food safety practices are critical for maintaining a successful business, cleaning linens (or sending them out to be cleaned) may not always be at the top of your daily to-do list. However, clean linens are key to creating a welcoming environment for your customers and ensuring your establishment meets health and safety standards.
From napkins and sanitizer towels to tablecloths, it’s important to ensure that all linens in your establishment are properly cleaned and sanitized regularly. Since linens are essential to a business's daily functioning, anyone working in a restaurant, bar, food truck, or other food service establishment needs to understand why clean linens are essential and how to help ensure that the linens around them are clean throughout their shift.
Read on to learn more about:
Why are clean linens important to food safety?
What regulations apply to the linens in my establishment?
What are the additional benefits of clean linens?
How can I help maintain clean linens?
Why are clean linens important to food safety?
Clean linens are critical to food safety because fabric is a potential vehicle for cross-contamination. A 2021 study found that several foodborne viruses can live on cloth items for several hours. Certain viruses, like the norovirus, can survive on cloth for up to 90 days.1
All the linens in your establishment are likely to come into contact with staff, food contact surfaces, and customers, so it’s essential to ensure that all the linens used during your shift are clean.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Food Code also outlines specific requirements regarding clean linens. One guideline states that staff cannot use linens, like cloth napkins, in contact with food unless they are used to line a container for food service. In that case, staff must replace those linens every time they refill that container.2
All to say, clean linens prevent contamination and illness and help to keep your establishment in compliance with federal food safety requirements. Let’s look at some more of the regulations surrounding clean linens.
What regulations apply to the linens in my establishment?
In addition to helping prevent cross-contamination, clean linens will help ensure you comply with food safety regulations. Federal and state regulations require foodservice providers to use clean linens in their operations, and the 2022 FDA Food Code includes specific requirements for linen laundering.2
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Linen Laundering Frequency Requirements from the 2022 FDA Food Code |
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Linens are defined as clean if they are free of food residue or other soiling matter. |
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Linens that don’t come into direct contact with food must be laundered between operations if wet, sticky, or visibly dirty. |
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Linens and cloth napkins that come into contact with food in containers must be laundered between each use. |
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Wet wiping cloths must be laundered daily. |
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Dry wiping clothes must be laundered once they become soiled. |
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Linens must be mechanically washed unless otherwise specified. |
In addition to laundering requirements, the FDA Food Code outlines requirements for how to store soiled linens and how to protect clean linens.
What are the additional benefits of clean linens?
In addition to helping prevent cross-contamination and ensuring compliance with food safety regulations, clean linens contribute to a positive customer experience.
Stained or discolored tablecloths or napkins can make a bad impression on customers immediately after they sit down. Even a hint of an unclean environment can impact someone’s experience–especially when you consider that seven in ten people report they’re more aware of hygiene and sanitation than ever before.3
Clean linens stand out. From the tablecloth down to the staff’s uniforms, they show that an establishment is clean, professional, and well-maintained–all sentiments essential to maintaining a positive reputation in your community.
How can I help maintain clean linens?
As discussed, clean linens are essential to any establishment’s success. Different tasks, such as food service and cleaning, require dedicated linens. Once used, each linen must be laundered before anyone can use it again.
Your role in maintaining clean linens will depend on your role within your establishment. If you are a food handler, server, or host, you are responsible for maintaining a clean uniform, watching for visibly soiled linens in the service area, and ensuring that clothes used for sanitizing food-contact surfaces are held between uses in a chemical sanitizer solution.
If you are a manager or operator, you should work with your staff to establish a regular schedule for replacing linens, washing them (or sending them out for laundering), and establishing guidelines for proper storage. This routine should cover details like how often linens are rotated out of use, when they're cleaned, where to store dirty linens (and where not to store them), and whether you work with a commercial laundry service.
Everyone in a foodservice operation contributes to ensuring that clean linens are readily available to staff and customers every day.
Clean linens are essential
A foodservice establishment can only succeed by paying attention to the details of food safety. Clean linens are one of these key details because they prevent cross-contamination, are required by federal and state regulations, and promote a positive reputation. Whether you are a server, manager, or operator, staying proactive about linen cleanliness reinforces your establishment’s commitment to excellence in food safety and customer experience.
Sources:
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Journal of Food Protection: Cross-Contamination on Atypical Surfaces and Venues in Food Service Environments
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FDA: 2022 Food Code
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Ecolab: Making the Shift: Cleaning for Confidence vs. Cleaning for Appearance
