I have worked in the cruise industry for over twenty-five years in the hotel department. First with Premier Cruise Line and then Disney Cruise Line. I received the highest training and awards in food safety and sanitation as a chef. This, plus the COVID breakout experience, has urged me to share my knowledge about the safety and health of foods we consume daily. This comprehensive cruise industry experience has shaped my career.
On the cruise ship, we are always ready for the United States Public Health, which can visit us anytime while we are in any US port for a sanitation inspection. The hotel department is their main focus, but others are inspected as well. The ship’s passing score must be 85% and above. If the ship does not get the required score, they are considered failed, and a reinspection will be scheduled within the next few days. These inspections require extensive cruise industry experience to manage successfully.
This is one of the most critical times on every cruise ship where food safety is concerned. “HCCAP” Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point is a management system that uses CCPs to identify and prevent food safety hazards; this must be maintained at all times. HACCP is the system used to address and prevent biological, chemical, and physical hazards throughout the food production process. With my cruise industry experience, I can attest to its importance.
Throughout my time working on the cruise ship, I have only experienced one public health failure. I cannot forget these moments when we had to clean and sanitize the galley over and over for a week straight. The deck guys had to scrub the outer decks night and day until we were reinspected. Even though we passed with high scores, written warnings were issued to two officers and several crew members. The rest of the inspections were excellent, particularly when I switched to the Disney Cruise when they became available in 1998. My valuable cruise industry experience ensured continued excellence and compliance.
Read more: https://www.homecleanfood.com/why-cruise-ship-food-is-more-clean-and-sanitary/22/