Fight Back Against FOGs in Your Commercial Kitchen

The build-up of fats, oils and greases (FOGs) from cooking can cause real headaches for commercial kitchens, attracting vermin and insect infestations if you aren’t cleaning them properly. If you’re pouring them away, you could also risk blocking your drains.

If you think it’s only your fryers that are to blame for FOGs, think again. Your combi ovens, ranges, grills and even your dishwashers could be generating excessive amounts of grease. Failing to take precautions against FOG build-up in your kitchen means that you’ll be violating some important regulations:

• Environmental Protection Act 1990 – under Section 34 of the Act, FOGs are seen as hazardous waste and must be disposed of via special collection. Tipping waste FOGs down the drain or into rubbish bins can result in fines and prosecution.
• UK Water Industry Act 1991 – it is an offence under Section 111 of the Act to tamper with or obstruct the flow of a sewer, and failing to minimise the build-up of FOGS could result in action from your local water undertaker.
• Food Safety Act 1990 – poor management of FOG disposal on your premises could result in a bad hygiene score from your local authority during an inspection – or even hefty fines and the shutdown of your premises.

Last October, a restaurant near Wolverhampton received a £5,495 fine for blocking the area sewers with FOGs because they had not installed grease traps. A spokesperson for Severn Trent Water, who brought the prosecution, commented that the water undertaker cleans up “around 45,000 blockages a year and fat contributes to the majority of those.”

What You Can Do to Fight FOGs

There are three accepted and approved methods of reducing the amount of fats, oils and greases that make their way from your kitchen into the sewer system. Grease traps and grease removal units are the most widespread methods, but you will still need to store the excess FOGs until they are collected for disposal by a specialist, and keep receipts of these disposals for at least two years.

The most effective way to deal with FOGs is by using a biological degrader equipped with an auto-dosing system. This method uses bacteria to digest and break down FOGs, destroying them at the source – your sink and drains – instead of pushing them into the sewer to re-coagulate and cause blockages later. The auto-dosing system injects the degrader down your drains after the kitchen has shut down for the evening, which means you won’t have to handle any chemicals.

If you’re ready to tackle FOGs and prevent your commercial kitchen from turning into a grease disaster, fight back with a specialist bacteria-based degrader.