Food Safety Tips for Restaurants and Food Service

Choose from a variety of food safety labels, stickers, day dots and more

As a restaurant owner or food service provider, you always need to ensure the quality and safety of your establishment and the food you provide. From solutions for food storage and safe deliveries to safety signs for employees and customers, we’ve put together some easy, cost-effective food safety tips and product ideas to help you open your restaurant or food business safely.

Secure your restaurant deliveries

Let your customers know their food hasn’t been opened during delivery by using Tamper-Evident Labels. The labels are impossible to remove without being destroyed, giving your customers confidence their food is safe and secure upon delivery. Whether you own a restaurant, bakery, donut shop, coffee house, or other retail location, once the items leave your store these labels will ensure your customers that their food hasn’t been tampered with.

These specially engineered labels feature a strong permanent adhesive and perforations on the label face that break apart when someone tries to remove them. The matte white material used for our tamper-evident labels is oil-resistant and freezer-safe. You can also write on the labels with permanent markers, gel pens, or ballpoint pens to personalize your labels with names, dates, contents, or special requests.

Tamper-evident labels also work great for grocery stores and other retail locations that make and package their own edible items and place them on shelves for display. If someone tries to open the container in-store, the label will break apart, alerting employees and other customers the item has been tampered with.

The best part about our tamper-evident labels is they can be customized. Add your logo or special message by using the free Avery design software. Once you select what size tamper-evident label you need, you’ll be taken to our design canvas. There you can either upload your own artwork or use one of the pre-designs featured above. Just browse the food safety category in our design canvas to find your favorite design. Then customize and order.

Brand & seal to-go containers for food safety

For curbside pickup, takeout and other to-go options where you don’t need as much security as delivery items, try food security seals. You can order blank food security seals by the sheet that you can print yourself as needed from a laser or inkjet printer, or order custom printed food security seals on rolls or sheets.

The food-safety seals, when combined with our permanent adhesive, give an extra layer of security to takeout bags, boxes, foil containers, and other to-go items. They also provide a great space to add branding and other messaging.

Like our tamper-evident labels, you can easily customize the food security seals using the pre-designs featured in the image above or by uploading your own graphics in Avery design software. Just pick the size label you need, find your favorite design or upload your own and customize. Then you can simply print them yourself or let us print them for you.

For POS customization, use a pen or permanent marker to add special requests or other important information to your labels.

Choosing the right size food safety labels

To help you find the perfect size for your containers, we put together a list of common uses and the size label that fits best.

  • Pizza & Sandwich Boxes: Use 3″ round labels to seal lids.
  • Paper Handle Bags: Use 2″ x 6″ labels to close & secure top of bag.
  • Paper Bags w/o Handles: Use a 2″ or 3″ round label to seal folded flap.
  • Salad Containers: Use a 2″ x 4″ or 2″ x 6″ label to seal edge.
  • Soup Containers: Use a 2″ x 4″ label to secure lid to side of container.

Always make sure to measure your containers to find the exact fit for your tamper-evident labels or food security seals.

Maintain safe food storage practices

Get your shelves, refrigerators and freezers organized and safe with day dots and use-by labels. Not only do these labels prevent food illnesses but they also save your restaurant money by preventing food waste.

You can find pre-designed templates in our design tool or personalize your day dots with your own specific messaging. Just pick the size labels you need. Once you’re in the design canvas, choose the food safety category to find your perfect template.

For day dots and food storage labels we recommend using our removable labels. The removable adhesive comes off cleanly with no sticky residue making it perfect for reusable containers. Choose our matte white paper material if you want to be able to handwrite on the labels after they’re printed. We recommend a permanent marker, ballpoint pen or gel pen for best results.

If you aren’t concerned about removing labels, try our waterproof labels. They’re not only waterproof but also oil-resistant and freezer-safe. You can order custom printed waterproof labels on rolls or sheets. Or try our blank waterproof labels by the sheet that you can print yourself. If you’re looking for packaged printable labels in set quantities, Avery offers several waterproof sizes including 1/2″ x 1-3/4″ and 1″ x 2-5/8″.

Food safety signs for restaurants

Help your customers and employees stay safe with custom printed floor decals and wall signs. Floor decals and wall signs are perfect for social distancing, mask requirements, one-way aisles, and entrance and exit signs.

Avery floor signs are made from UL-certified slip-resistant and tear-resistant material. They are available in 8″, 12″ & 17″ round and square sizes. The decals are easy to apply to smooth, indoor surfaces & commercial floors like sealed concrete, sealed wood & certain ceramic tile. Choose from a variety of pre-designed floor signs or create your own using our free templates.

Avery Surface Safe® Adhesive Wall Signs are perfect for creating custom signage for your restaurant. The specially engineered adhesive sticks and stays put but won’t damage your walls or paint. You can easily create adhesive signs for marketing special offers or items as well as for things necessary signs like hand-washing and no smoking.

Author: Melanie Neff

Melanie has an extensive writing background built on an impressive journalism foundation. As a reporter for USA Today and The Los Angeles Times for almost 20 years, she covered everything from the Los Angeles riots, fires, and floods to LA Lakers, Raiders and Clippers games and movie premieres. She followed her newspaper career with a long tenure covering commercial real estate financing and development. Melanie has been writing about small business marketing and labeling needs for the last 12 years. She thrives on reading, researching and expanding her knowledge of everything going on in today's business world and looks to provide the most valuable information she can to her readers.

2 thoughts on “Food Safety Tips for Restaurants and Food Service”

  1. Do you have any nice labels for work break rooms? I.e. microwave – Please sanitize before and after each use. Sanitize table before and after each use, water bottler refill stations – do not make contact with your water bottle and spout & Pls sanitize before and after each use. Do not leave your dishes exposed, wash, dry and put them away in your drawer or locker, sanitize before entering, etc.

    Work Stations labels indicating the measurable (like a ruler) six foot distance. People are putting their work stations less than six feet apart because they have no sense of guidance. a Visible six foot guideline to be placed on the wall or floor is necessary.

    1. Patricia,
      We actually do. We recently launched a line of wall and table signs. They’re removable and won’t leave a messy residue. They can be used on walls, doors, tables, chairs and many other surfaces. You can design your own too with our free templates and software. Hope this helps. Please reach out to our Customer Care Center at (800) 942-8379 if you have any more questions or need help with your order.

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