Simple Time As Public Health Control Tips For CFPMs

Simple “Time As Public Health Control” Tips For CFPMs

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Some events and food service situations may not benefit from instant service or hot and cold held buffet lines, so the Minnesota food code has procedures that allow certified food protection managers to utilize time as public health control (TPHC) to help you keep the food you serve safe, even if you aren’t serving it instantly. Let’s take a moment to review exactly how Certified Food Protection Managers can use TPHC in certain situations.

Buffet use of Time As Public Health Control Tips For certified Food Protection Managers
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How Certified Food Protection Managers Can Best Use TPHC

Just a quick note before we begin. If you are the certified food protection manager at a facility that serves an immunocompromised or susceptible population, it’s best not to utilize time as a public health control. Assisted living facilities, hospitals, certain school and other outlets that serve a susceptible population should rely on hot and cold holding temperature control. TPHC is technically allowed for food that does not include eggs in some of these situations, but caution may be the best course of action.

The rules behind TPHC control are rather simple, but there are a few steps you must take when using this method. The basics of TPHC are:

  • Hot foods above 135 degrees can be held for four hours after removed from temperature control
  • Cold foods below 41 degrees can be held for four hours after removed from temperature control
  • Cold foods can be held for six hours after being removed from temperature control if the monitored temperature never rises over 70 degrees

Just to summarize time as public health control for CFPM use, any foods pulled out of hot holding above 135 degrees or cold storage below 41 degrees can be held for four hours without hot holding or cold holding. Cold foods can be held up to six hours if temperatures are monitored closely.

Once the holding process begins, it cannot be extended by reheating or chilling items. Once these items have been removed from a temperature controlled environment, your timer starts and cannot be paused or extended by any means. As soon as your four, or six, hours have expired all food must be discarded. It cannot be stored, reheated or served at a later time under any circumstances.

Finally, make sure that you have written TPHC procedures outlined and available should a health inspector wish to review them. It’s also important that every staff member understands the restrictions of TPHC before service begins.

Does your certified food protection manager utilize time as public health control?

MN Certified food manager training and testing

Targeted Advice For Certified Food Manager Training And Testing

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With business returning to normal in the foodservice industry, we’re seeing an influx of certified food manager candidates taking the training courses for the first time. Whether you took an online food manager training course during COVID-19 and have yet to experience in-person training or are a fresh face, it’s sometimes a stress reliever to know what to expect when you attend certified food manager training and prepare for the certification exam. As a precursor to your upcoming class, we’d like to break down what you should expect from certified food manager training and testing.

MN Certified Food Manager Training And Testing by Safe Food Training
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A Certified Food Manager Training and Testing Prep Guide

Our certified food manager training sessions are not like your typical class. In fact, our goal is to make sure that you absorb the material and have a good time while doing it. We don’t expect students to just sit quietly and listen while taking frantic notes for hours on end. Our classes are meant to be engaging and enlightening. We realize there’s a lot of information to learn in one day, that’s why we promote discussion, questions and conversations with your fellow future certified food managers. Here are a few tips that can help you be ready for success when you take a certified food manager class and exam:

  • Review the pre-study material ahead of time
  • Get a good night’s sleep the night before
  • Make notes of specific questions and topics you would like more information about
  • Don’t be afraid to engage in discussions or ask for clarification

If you do these things, you should be relaxed, prepared, and set up for success when it comes time to take the exam. During the exam, don’t rush because you’ll have plenty of time. Remember, if you’ve reviewed the materials, engaged in the discussion and taken quality notes all the information you need to pass should be in your head.

Are you preparing to take the certified food manager training and testing for the first time?

Sae Food Return to MN State Fair

A Safe Food Return To The Unique MN State Fair

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One of the events we missed most due to the COVID-19 crisis was the annual Minnesota State Fair. Now that we seem to have the pandemic under control, we’re excited to see that we’ll be able to once again enjoy the food, the livestock and attractions of this event. Let’s take a look at some of the confirmed safe food activities that will be returning to this years MN State Fair.

Safe Food return to MN State Fair
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Safe Food Activities of the 2021 Minnesota State Fair

Appropriately dubbed “The Great Minnesota Get-Together,” we finally get to enjoy concerts at the grandstands once again in person. Some highlights of the fair’s concert series at the grandstand stage include:

  • The Doobie Brothers
  • TLC and Shaggy with Bone Thugs-n-Harmony
  • George Thorogood and the Destroyers
  • Tim McGraw

Besides concerts, there’s also plenty of rides for the young and the young at heart, art shows, animals and competitions, but we’re excited to see what new foods we can find as well as enjoy some of our old favorites.

Looking over the list of vendors, we see plenty of fair safe foods to please any craving. A few items were ready to try include:

  • Vietnamese Sausages
  • Deep Fried Bison Ravioli
  • Fudge Dipped Fruits
  • Waffle Burgers

Besides these safe foods, there will be plenty of refreshing beverages ranging from Cucumber Jalapeño Limeade and specialty beers found only at the state fair.

It’s been nearly two years since we last saw each other at the fair. Will you be enjoying the safe foods at this year’s state fair?

ServSafe Food Managers Need To Inspect Ready-to-Serve Produce

Professional ServSafe Food Managers Need To Inspect Ready-to-Serve Produce

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A high percentage of ServSafe food managers rely on produce items that are packaged ready to serve, but that doesn’t mean we can simply look at the expiration date and serve to customers without some sort of inspection process. Just because your bag of salad greens claims to be triple washed and good to go right out of the bag, it doesn’t mean there are zero food safety risks or quality control issues.

ServSafe Food Managers Need To Inspect Ready-to-Serve Produce
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ServSafe Food Manager Safety Procedures For Ready-to Serve Produce

Prepackaged produce can be a huge timesaver. Bagged spinach, salad mixes, shredded lettuce and even precut fruit greatly reduce prep time and allows kitchen staff to take care of items that can only be prepared in their facility, but there are some risks involved with these products. ServSafe food managers must look out for:

  • Foreign objects
  • Spoilage
  • Signs of insects
  • Allergen ingredients

We’ve seen news stories of foreign objects found in bagged lettuce that range from golf balls to dead mice. Sometimes, like in a recent story out of Seattle, something rare like a deceased lizard actually makes its way to the consumer. In this case, the salad mix in question came from a reputable supplier that appears to triple wash greens and have procedures to prevent foreign objects from making their way into bags, so it just goes to show that no matter how careful your supplier is there may be risks. It’s not like a lizard make a habit of frequenting kitchens outside of their native habitat.

It’s also important for ServSafe food managers to look for signs that your prepackaged lettuce mix has begun to spoil or may have been contaminated with insects at some point during the process. Greens that have started to turn brown, black or have abnormal deterioration should not be served to customers.

Finally, some companies that produce ready-to-serve salad mixes have varieties of their products that may contain nuts, eggs or dairy. Check the labels and ingredient lists carefully to be informed if a customer with one of the allergies dines at your establishment.

Do you take the time to inspect previously washed produce?