Building on their commitment to sustainability, the National Restaurant Association today released the latest Fats, Oils and Grease (FOG) Control toolkit to their members. This comes as many restaurateurs work to be more environmentally friendly in their business practices—whether they are running an existing restaurant or opening a new one.
To introduce the toolkit, the National Restaurant Association produced an animated cartoon starring “Frank and Beans” to highlight the dangers of improper disposal of FOG.
The comprehensive toolkit, created by the Association’s sustainability team, clearly defines strategies to deal with the care and disposal of cooking fats, oils, and grease, an everyday issue for restaurants of all sizes. The toolkit includes tips for employee trainings and lays out kitchen best practices.
“It is critical that restaurant owners and operators understand the impact that fats, oils, and grease can have in our communities and our environment if not cared for properly,” says Jeffrey Clark, director of the Association’s Conserve program. “Clogged pipes can cause serious harm to a restaurant business and to our rivers, lakes and streams. This toolkit will arm restaurant operators with the latest information on how to limit environmental, public health, and business risk from improper management of fats, oils and grease.”
FOG, defined as the batters, butter, cooking oils, dressings, sauces and more, are found in most restaurants. Through frequent use, FOG end up in the restaurants’ sewer pipes causing sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs). The Association’s fresh toolkit provides the best practices for effective grease control management including how to keep FOG out of pipes, the cost liability that comes along with Grease Control Devices (GCD), and the proper documentation needed to hire third-party cleaners.
