february2021 - 34

FBO FOCUS

" Aviation caters do a great job with food
safety, but when it came to delivering the food,
and the flight crew or the FBO taking the food,
there was really no regulations, " Detloff says.
" I think now especially with COVID-19,
everybody's taking the proper measures when
it comes to food safety. "
One thing Detloff says an FBO and business flyer can do is make sure they work
with an aviation caterer, who are held to
catering-specific standards by organizations
like the FDA and local health departments
compared to other food service providers.
" They take all the necessary measures to
make sure that they're taking the food serious
when it comes to food safety. They also use
a cook to chill method, which is controlling
the temperatures of the food the very best way
compared to restaurants and hotels, which do
the cook to serve method, where they cook the

food and you're really meant to eat it within
those four hours, " explains Detloff.
Having that proper training is crucial to
food hygiene success. Knowing what the
proper temperature to cook and then store
food at, along with how to clean, sanitize and
prevent cross contamination makes all the
difference.
" So therefore, making sure that you're killing any bacteria that could possibly be on the
food, " Detloff continues. " I think those are
some of the best practices right now is really
using the people that prepare the food properly in using the aviation caters. "
Leeman agrees, saying that food safety and
food quality go hand-in-hand; you can't have
one without the other.
" The requirements for the quality of the
items that we produce are dependent upon
practicing best-in-class food safety standards.
Air Culinaire has enacted
strict COVID-19 safety
procedures in their
kitchen.
Photo courtesy of Air Culinaire

34 GROUND SUPPORT WORLDWIDE

FEBRUARY 2021

I mean, you don't get crisp, crunchy lettuce by
allowing temperature abuse. Everything goes
hand-in-hand to have the best experience for
the passenger on board, " Leeman says.
And now with more people focused on food
safety, that quality of service can continue into
the air.
" Back in the day, everybody thought it was
just the caterer's responsibility on food safety,
but it's all of our responsibility when it comes
to food safety. Because the caterer can follow
all the steps properly. But when it's delivered to
the FBO, if they don't follow the steps properly,
it can be contaminated. At the same time, if the
FBO follows all the steps and delivers to the
flight crew, and they don't follow the proper
steps it can be contaminated, " Detloff says.

The Future of Food Safety
Detloff says he doesn't see the focus on food
safety waning post-pandemic.
" It's our job as flight crew members, to
know the training and how to mitigate the
risk. And I think nowadays with COVID-19,
I think everybody's really trying to follow the
proper protocols and inspecting where they're
getting the food, what FBOs they're using that
are following the food safety protocols that the
FDA recommends. And I think that will be
here to stay as well, " he says.
Leeman adds that while the pandemic and
it's impacts on the industry and world cannot
be overstated, he believes everyone will be better for it in the long run.
" We haven't been any safer, and when it
comes to safety and those kinds of things,
we've passed a threshold of no return, and
these heightened protocols are here to stay, "
Leeman says. " I think that COVID is a terrible,
terrible thing. But from a business standpoint
and what our product is and what we do, it has
actually made us be very innovative and think
all the way through the process in ways that
we hadn't before.
" In the end, I think your business aviation
caterer is much, much better off now than
even before COVID, " he continues. " Because
people weren't as interested in food science
or health and safety as they are now, and that
has pushed health, safety and sanitation in
food production for every organization in the
hospitality space. "

february2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of february2021