Modernizing Food Safety Practices in Restaurants

September is National Food Safety Education Month,  a crucial time to spotlight food safety in the restaurant industry. To tackle these ongoing challenges, we've gathered insights from two leading experts:  Peter Cryan, President and Partner at Scription, and  Tom Woodbury, an IoT Solutions Consultant at MachineQ, an enterprise IoT company within Comcast.

Cryan is the President of Consult Cryan, LLC, a firm that provides technology, equipment, and IoT energy management solutions to food service chains and equipment and supply manufacturers. He spent more than 20 years as a Vice President of Global Equipment Innovation & Supply at Inspire Brands. Woodbury has an extensive background in foodservice and IoT and  advises enterprise leaders on how to maximize their ROI by understanding their use case and providing an IoT solution.  

They share perspectives on how technology and automation can be harnessed to elevate food safety practices, prevent outbreaks, and navigate operational hurdles, common errors, the FDA's "New Era of Smarter Food Safety" initiative, and future investments for safer dining experiences.

What are the biggest operational challenges restaurants currently face when dealing with concerns around food safety?

PC: Restaurants are dealing with a number of food safety challenges right now. Staffing and training gaps are a major issue, since high turnover and reliance on part-time employees make it difficult to maintain consistent training, supervision, and correct behavior on the job. Recordkeeping is another pain point, as many operators still rely on manual logs that are often incomplete, prone to error, or lost altogether, which slows responses during inspections or incidents. Temperature monitoring and control also remain a top concern – failures in refrigeration, hot holding equipment, inconsistent monitoring, or missed excursions can quickly lead to spoilage and food safety risks. Finally, the growing complexity of operations, from online orders and third-party delivery to ghost kitchens and high-throughput environments, has added more handling steps and with that comes increased risk of contamination.

TW: In a busy kitchen, it’s easy for manual tasks, such as temperature checks, to be rushed or skipped. But it’s not just cold storage temperature monitoring—issues like equipment failures, improper hand hygiene, or HVAC problems can also impact food safety and the guest experience. For example, if the temperature inside a walk-in cooler begins to rise or a dispenser runs out of soap at a handwashing station, those gaps create potential impacts to food safety. Internet of Things (IoT) solutions give operators real-time visibility in those situations, so they know right away when something’s off and can work to fix it before it becomes a problem.

What are common mistakes operators are making regarding food safety practices and what are the best ways to correct them?

PC: One of the most common mistakes we see is inconsistent temperature logging, or relying solely on manual checks. The better approach is to use IoT sensors and connected smart equipment for continuous, digital temperature monitoring with real-time alerts. Another pitfall is treating training as a one-time event. Operators can make a big impact by shifting to short, role-based micro-trainings that are refreshed monthly, paired with competency checks such as quick quizzes or observed tasks. Tracking progress, rewarding good behaviors, and creating a culture of recognition and accountability can go a long way toward improving safety practices.

The growing complexity of operations, from online orders and third-party delivery to ghost kitchens and high-throughput environments, has added more handling steps and with that comes increased risk of contamination.

Basic hand hygiene and cross-contamination errors are also common. These can be addressed by redesigning workflows with things like color-coded tools and separate prep zones, adding clear visuals and job aids, and auditing with corrective coaching rather than just write-ups. In the event of an outbreak, operators sometimes rely only on physical inspection evidence, when maintaining digital, searchable records – like temperatures, recipes, lot numbers, and staff schedules – can help speed root-cause analysis.

Finally, many operators fall short when it comes to follow-through on corrective actions. Every issue should include a short root cause note and a verification check within a set number of days. Ideally, these corrective actions are tied to measurable KPIs, such as the percentage of corrections verified within 72 hours, so operations leaders can track and drive improvement.

TW: Many foodservice operators rely on staff to manually track everything from cooler temperatures to restroom cleaning schedules. With kitchens operating with leaner teams, there is an increased possibility of human data entry errors. A better approach is to utilize IoT sensors for continuous monitoring. That way, if a cooler indicates that its temperature is out of range, a handwashing station runs low on soap, or a dishwasher cycle fails to reach the right temperature or sanitization level, staff are automatically alerted to help ensure these issues are caught and corrected quickly.

How has the FDA's "New Era of Smarter Food Safety" initiative changed the conversation around food safety?

PC: The FDA’s “New Era of Smarter Food Safety” has shifted the conversation away from reactive compliance and toward technology-enabled prevention and traceability. The focus now is on using digital systems rather than paper records to improve product traceability and response time. Another key change is the emphasis on food safety culture and metrics. The FDA is encouraging both industry and regulators to measure and improve culture, not just checking items off a list. In addition, the initiative highlights modernization and partnerships, with public-private efforts, pilot programs, and data sharing all designed to accelerate outbreak prevention and response. In many ways, “digital traceability, culture, and analytics” have become the new language of modern food safety planning.

The FDA is encouraging both industry and regulators to measure and improve culture, not just checking items off a list.

TW: The initiative has given food safety leaders the ability to automate field-level decisions.  Before the New Era of Smarter Food Safety, restaurant workers would need to consult manuals, make phone calls, and often guess what the right course of action was.  By incorporating IoT technology into the initiative, operators can pre-program actions into food safety systems using sensor data. For example, if a walk-in cooler’s temperature has been 50ºF for two hours, the system can automatically trigger alerts with recommended workflows to correct the potentially unsafe condition.

In what ways can food tech help promote food safety and traceability, and help prevent foodborne illness outbreaks?

TW: IoT technology provides real-time visibility into areas that previously went undetected. For example, IoT-enabled dishwashers can help confirm that sanitization cycles reached the required temperature for sterilization. Smart restroom solutions help make sure handwashing stations never run out of essentials, which keeps cleaning standards on track. Additionally, with an equipment monitoring solution, operators can ensure that food is cooked to safe temperatures – on grills, in fryers, or ovens – and allow for corrective actions if they’re not. Doing so enables operators to flag potential issues before they impact food safety. When used together, these solutions provide meaningful insights that not only improve workflows but also help reduce possible perils to your operations.

What are examples of investments operators should be considering to have better food safety prevention in place? What are any hesitations or barriers to making these investments?

PC: There are several investments operators can consider to strengthen food safety. As equipment is upgraded, choosing IoT-connected smart equipment ensures that future tools have communication capabilities built in. Digital, cloud-based monitoring systems for refrigeration, freezers, and hot holding equipment are another smart investment, along with HACCP and checklist apps and platforms for consistent staff micro-training. Tools like RFID or barcode scanning can streamline deliveries and inventory management, while tablets and digital training aids make it easier for managers and staff to teach, coach, and learn.

At the same time, operators face real barriers when considering these upgrades. Upfront costs and uncertain ROI are major concerns, particularly for smaller businesses that worry about capital expenditures and subscription fees. There’s also the challenge of competing priorities – things like marketing, menu development, customer data, and rebranding often take precedence when it comes to capital spending. Integration with existing systems can also be difficult, as many tech solutions don’t plug directly into legacy POS, inventory, or supplier systems, creating more manual work. Staff acceptance is another barrier; new tools require behavior changes, and without proper time and incentives, employees may revert to their old ways. Operators also worry about data privacy and ownership – questions like who controls traceability data or whether a vendor might create lock-in can slow adoption. Finally, there’s a perception among some that new systems are “over-engineering,” especially if they already pass inspections, so they may not see the value unless they’ve personally experienced an incident.

The restaurant of the future will have complete operational visibility, from cold storage units to hand hygiene stations to cooking equipment.

TW: Foodservice operators should consider solutions that leverage an IoT platform that scales to easily add new solutions as their business needs evolve. Investing in tools like smart bathroom systems, equipment monitoring, and temperature sensors that utilize the same network infrastructure can go a long way in protecting food safety and keeping operations running smoothly. The barriers most enterprises face come down to cost, questions about how IoT fits into their existing strategy, and concerns regarding moving from a pilot project to full-scale deployment. 

Looking ahead, how do you anticipate a restaurant of the future will address foodborne illness outbreaks?

PC: In the future, restaurants will be able to respond to foodborne illness outbreaks much more quickly and precisely. With lot-level digital traceability, recalls will become faster and more targeted, allowing operators to remove only the affected SKUs or lots rather than broad swaths of product, which minimizes waste and exposure. Sensors and analytics will make real-time detection possible, automatically flagging temperature anomalies and triggering immediate action plans. Supplier ecosystems will also become more integrated, with operators, distributors, and suppliers all sharing structured, machine-readable data that enables near-instant triage during investigations.

Routine compliance tasks will be increasingly automated – things like digital logging, photo evidence, and verification – freeing managers to focus more on coaching and systemic improvements. And data will flow more quickly to regulators and public health authorities through secure feeds, helping shorten investigations and pinpoint root causes upstream.

TW: The restaurant of the future will have complete operational visibility, from cold storage units to hand hygiene stations to cooking equipment. IoT systems will track conditions across all these capabilities in real time, flag anomalies instantly, and feed data into predictive models that anticipate failures. If an issue arises, digital records enable operators to pinpoint what went wrong and demonstrate how it was fixed. Having a connected kitchen means staff can respond faster, minimize disruptions, and give them (and customers) greater peace of mind.