If you are unfamiliar with the concept, a tasting event allows people to sample small quantities of a large variety of foods and drinks. Tastings are becoming increasingly popular as people clamor for the opportunity to explore new food experiences, be they new ingredients, new flavor combinations, new presentations, or new brands. Though wineries have long been known to offer tasting opportunities to guests, other types of businesses in the food industry have started to experiment with the tasting model. Because tastings tend to be fun and social experiences, charities are also organizing an increasing number of tastings to entice donors to engage with their cause.

Though people might consume less food and drink during a tasting than they would during a more traditional meal, the standard rules for food safety still apply. In planning and preparing the food and drink for your tasting event, you need to remember the following information about food safety and maintain safe practices to keep your guests safe.

Why Does Food Safety Matter?

Food safety is always a matter of life and death. Food contamination can cause debilitating and perhaps deadly diseases, even in people who were previously hale and hearty. Hundreds of thousands of people die every year after consuming contaminated food, and many of those deaths take place within our most vulnerable populations: children, the elderly, the sick, and the impoverished. The human loss and financial impact of foodborne illnesses are severe, amounting to high costs for families, companies, and countries in the form of healthcare expenses, work absences, reputational damage, and more.

A tasting may seem like a convenient, casual, and cool event option, but like other events involving food and drink, tastings must adhere to food safety standards to ensure everyone involved remains safe.

What Are Tasting-Specific Food Safety Practices?

Any professional purveyor of food or drink should understand and maintain standard food safety practices as mandated by the FDA, state health departments, and other regulatory bodies. These rules most often involve the cleanliness of personnel, sanitary facilities and equipment, and clean processes for manufacturing, processing, packing, and more. These rules and best practices remain relevant to tasting events and any retail or institutional event that provides any quantity of food and beverage.

Because tastings are less common, food service professionals may be less familiar with specific practices involved in preparing and serving food and drink at these types of events. Here are some essential practices food handlers need to adhere to when conducting tastings:

• Food served hot must be kept at or above 140 degrees Fahrenheit prior to service.
• Any perishable foods held at room temperature for over two hours or above 90 degrees Fahrenheit for over one hour must be discarded.
• Tastes not in service should be covered.
• Bare hands should never come into contact with food.
• Different utensils should be used to transfer food from cooking or storage containers to tasting plates and from those plates to guests.
• Utensils used for tasting must be discarded or transferred directly to dishwashing areas.
• Any tastes that are touched by guests and returned must be discarded.
• Parents’ permission must be acquired before children are served.
• Any unconsumed pre-portioned tastes must be discarded once the service is complete.

Restaurants, wineries, and other organizations interested in offering tasting experiences can benefit from memorizing these more niche best practices, but in truth, many of these practices are intuitive to those with a comprehensive understanding of food safety. All businesses within the food service industry should strive to develop a safety culture in which staff respect core values of food safety and instinctively act to reduce or eliminate all potential sources of food contamination.

Do Private Tasting Events Need to Follow the Same Food Safety Practices?

Tasting events held in retail or institutional settings must adhere to the FDA’s food code and state regulations on food handling. However, individuals who prepare food at home and serve it at a private gathering are not held to the same rigorous standards, even if they are volunteers providing food to community events. Still, individuals should consider upholding a few basic food safety practices to reduce the possibility of harmful contamination during private tastings, such as:

• Consistently washing hands, utensils, and food preparation surfaces;
• Physically separating risky foods, like raw meats or common food allergens, from other foods;
• Cooking foods to the safe minimum internal temperature and, if necessary, maintaining food at a safe temperature before consumption;
• Immediately refrigerating any leftover foods.

Because private and community tastings might involve food and drink preparation from multiple parties, event organizers might try to coordinate food safety practices to reduce the possibility of contamination. They can rely on community event marketing tactics — such as sharing printed materials locally and strategically communicating through different digital channels — to get the word out about the event, as well as ensure food safety. Using graphics tools to produce posters or flyers explaining different food-safe practices can help everyone understand their responsibilities for the event and remind everyone of essential behaviors for keeping food safe.

What Are Other Useful Tips for a Safe and Successful Tasting Event?

Food safety is an absolute necessity for your tasting event, but it isn’t the only element you need to make it safe. Contamination should be a major concern, but other issues can also cause guests discomfort and distress, which will ultimately make your event unsuccessful. Here are some tips and tricks you might follow to make sure your first tasting goes off without a hitch:

• Make your tasting room comfortable. Tastings typically offer a range of options for guests, who may prefer to stand, sit at bar height, or sit at dining height. The space should be accessible to all and provide the support guests need to enjoy food and drink safely.
• Choose appropriate tableware. Guests should not need to ask for utensils for food tastes, and all beverages should be served in the correct type of glassware. Clean and proper utensils prevent contamination and ensure food and drink are optimally enjoyed. Plus, because so many beverages appear identical by sight, the right glassware can prepare guests for the flavors they are about to experience.
• Offer labels explaining each taste. Even with a thorough explanation from a server, guests often want more information about their tastes to avoid allergens or other concerns. Labels and tasting mats can detail ingredients, flavor profiles, and more.
• Have dump buckets available at every table. Many guests prefer to discard food and drink after tasting, and dump buckets allow them to separate their used food from fresh tastes. It may be necessary to replace them with clean buckets depending on the duration of the event.
• Give guests plenty of water. Attentive servers, a water carafe for each table, or an accessible water dispenser — you have options for ensuring each guest remains appropriately hydrated throughout the event.

Tasting events allow people to explore new and exciting foods and beverages in a safe, comfortable space. Make sure to have proper supplies available, keep food fresh, and ensure all dishware is clean. If you understand and follow all relevant practices to support food safety, you can ensure that your event delivers on guest expectations and achieves your objectives with fun and flair.