Certified ServSafe food managers have the duty to ensure that the food they serve is safe and that their operation adheres to the Minnesota food code, but can they do more to make food safety a habit rather than simple compliance? Creating a culture in your establishment that promotes food safety rather than code compliance greatly reduces the risk of spreading foodborne illness.
Five Tips for Creating a Food Safety Culture
Keeping your entire staff focused on food safety improves awareness concerning foodborne illness risks and keeps food safety on everyone’s mind. Here are five ways ServeSafe food managers can build a food safety culture in their businesses:
- Management Modeling
- Explain the Science
- Ease Access to Food Safety Tools
- Keep Logs
- Bring in and Expert for Training
A food safety culture starts at the top, and ServSafe food managers need to lead by example. If you model a pro-food safety attitude, your staff is sure to follow. If your staff sees that food safety is serious, and they know why, then they’ll be more diligent in keeping food safe. Beyond modeling food safety, explaining the science behind food safety regulations helps show the consequences of lax attention to food code rules. Make sure you not only demonstrate how, but explain why your food safety procedures have been implemented.
If you are trying to promote food safety values, it’s also important that your staff has easy access to the tools and record keeping logs that aid in keeping food safe. Make sure every station is stocked with the equipment to prevent bare-hand contact, test temperature of hot and cold product and sanitation. If there’s no readily available equipment to follow food safety procedures, the chances for taking shortcuts increase. You should also consider making record keeping logs available. Temperature logs for held food, product dating notebooks and inventory control logs will paint a visual picture of important procedures that keep food illness risk low.
Finally, an outside view of your establishment can open your staffs eyes to food safety risks they may not have been previously aware of. Bringing in a third-party expert for on-site training tailored to your unique facility gives you a focused look at how food safety can work in your food business.
How do you foster a culture of food safety in your establishment?