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CFPM serving Soup at food charity

Are Food Charities Actually Required To Employ A Professional CFPM?

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Over the past few years, there has been an uptick in food charities as the pandemic and other factors have created the need to help those who struggle with hunger and affording proper nutrition. With so many soup kitchen type charities helping fill that need, we’ve been asked if food charities need to have a certified food protection manager – CFPM oversee their operation. There is no cut and dry answer, because there are a lot of variables involved, but if you run a food charity, you may want to consider certified food protection manager training to keep the food you provide safe.

Are Food Charities Actually Required To Employ A Professional CFPM?
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The Benefits of Certified Food Protection Manager Training for Charitable Food Efforts

When talking about certified food protection managers for businesses, most restaurants and food production businesses are required to have one certified food protection manager (CFPM) on staff to ensure that food is prepared in accordance with the Minnesota food code and that all employees are aware of safe food handling procedures. Since charities are not exactly a food businesses, there may be some confusion among volunteer organizations as to whether they should have a member of their volunteer team receive CFPM training.

Whether or not you are required to have a certified food protection manager may be up to your local health department. If you’re simply distributing prepackaged meals or heating ready-to-eat product for instant service, your organization may be considered low-risk and not monitored by the health department. If you are preparing raw products, chilling and reheating items and storing them for later service, you may want to consider certified food protection manager training even if your local health department does not require it. Benefits of CFPM training include:

  • Better Insight into Food Safety
  • Knowledge of How to Store Hot and Cold Foods
  • Confidence that Those You Help Receive Pathogen Free Meals
  • Ability to Oversee Untrained Volunteers

Even if you’re not selling food product, food safety is incredibly important. Knowing how to properly prepare food keeps those you help safe. Most food charity organizations are staffed by volunteers who may have never had any food safety training, so having a CFPM overseer who has been trained will help prevent a lack of knowledge from sickening those you are trying to help.

Do you run a food charity and would like more information on CFPM training in Minnesota?

MN CFPM Rules

What To Know If You Are Suddenly Left Without A MN CFPM

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All Minnesota food businesses are required to employ a certified food protection manager (CFPM), but what happens if a restaurant or other food facility loses theirs without warning? Do they have to shut down temporarily until they hire or train a new one? Fortunately, the MN food code isn’t that strict and does give some leeway for replacing a certified food manager who departs suddenly.

MN CFPM
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The Certified Food Manager Training Window

The good news is that the regulations for hiring or training a new certified protection manager in Minnesota allow for 60 days from the departure of one CFPM to the date they are replaced. Food protection certification is not transferable from one staff member to another, so be proactive in scheduling training or hiring a new CFPM as soon as possible.

If you’re looking to promote from within, there are two training options when it comes to gaining certification, online and in person. If you’ve lost a MN CFPM suddenly, online certified food protection manager classes may be the quickest and most convenient method of gaining certification. Online food certification classes can be taken at any time and contain all the materials necessary to pass the exam. In-person classes do happen rather frequently if you prefer to engage with an industry professional with experience running certified food protection manager courses. With instructor-led courses, you’ll also be able to take the exam on the same day as the training where online course study and food certification exam scheduling may have a gap.

The 60-day grace period doesn’t just apply to losing a CFPM suddenly, new establishment openings and re-openings after a temporary closure also receive this same grace period.

We never like to see sudden management departures, but do you have a plan if your MN CFPM has to depart on short notice?

Powerful New Reference Tools For Assisted Living MN ServSafe Managers

Powerful New Reference Tools For Assisted Living MN ServSafe Managers

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Every food business outlet has its own unique challenges, but due to the susceptibility of the residents in assisted living facilities, ServSafe food managers should be extremely careful with the food they serve. In order to protect the most vulnerable to illness, the Minnesota Department of Health as put together an FAQ for ServSafe Managers of assisted living facilities. Let’s take a look at some of the outlined rules that affect MN ServSafe managers in these facilities.

Powerful New Reference Tools For Assisted Living MN ServSafe Managers
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MN ServSafe Managers’ Guide to Assisted Living Kitchens

The Minnesota food code defines a highly susceptible population as a group that is more likely to contact foodborne illness due immunocompromised conditions or age. Assisted living facilities commonly serve these groups, and some other outlets the Minnesota Department places in this category includes:

  • Custodial Care Facilities
  • Specialized Nutritional Centers
  • Senior Centers
  • Medical Health Care Facilities

In their guide to the application of the food code to assisted living facilities, the Minnesota Department of Health outlines the key factors to serving an elderly or medically compromised population. The reinforce the need for:

  • Oversight of Food Handling Procedures
  • Health and Hygiene
  • Ready-to-Eat Food Safety
  • Time and Temperature Control
  • Cross-Contamination

You may look at this list and say to yourself, “I remember this from MN ServSafe manager training, so why do we need new outlines from the health department?”

The point of these new fact sheets is to emphasize the most important aspects of keeping food safe in assisted living facilities, and these measures give us the best chance of preventing foodborne illness.

Just like other food processing facilities, assisted living centers require a certified food protection manager to oversee food safety and training. The CFPM should also monitor employee hygiene to ensure nobody works sick and that proper handwashing procedures are followed.

It’s also vital to document time and temperature control procedures, especially when cooling prepared food and reheating ready-to-eat foods. Most facilities that serve the sensitive populations usually prepare food in advance in order to serve larger groups all at once. If you prepare your food ahead of time and reheat it for service, make sure you review cooling and temperature control procedures.

food safety Manager Training for Your Delivery service

Proven Food Safety Manager Training For Your Delivery Service

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Over the past two years, many restaurant patrons have changed the way they order their meals giving food safety managers the challenge of adapting to foodservice beyond in-person dining. With COVID-19 numbers fluctuating and regional regulations impacting food service, many patrons have taken to delivery services to order from their favorite eating establishment. Delivery provides a whole new set of food safety hazards that don’t exist within the confines of a dining room, so it’s important for every food safety manager to look at how to keep your food safe during the delivery service process.

Proven Food Safety Manager Training For Your Delivery Service
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How Food Safety Managers Can Keep Food Safe During Delivery Service

There are very limited regulations in the MN food code regarding what happens to food after it leaves your restaurant for delivery, so food safety managers have to use common sense to create their own procedures to keep food safe during the delivery process.

If you don’t have your own delivery drivers, your restaurant may rely on Postmates, GrubHub and Uber Eats for delivery service. Unfortunately, since these drivers are not members of your staff you’ll have no control over what happens to your meal once the driver leaves your establishment. The good news is, the drivers of these outside services are professionals, and many will take precautions to keep food warm and reduce contamination risks, but you can still take precautions to help keep food safe. When preparing food for delivery, make sure you:

  • Keep food hot until pick up
  • Prepare food as close to pick up time as possible
  • Use appropriate to go containers to prevent spillage

Rather than leaving to-go and delivery orders at the bar or hostess stand, we recommend you keep it in a warmer or under a heat lamp until it’s ready to leave the building. This will reduce the amount of time your food is a risk of falling into danger zone temperatures. It’s also a good idea to have the food prepared as close to the pickup deadline as possible and stored in sealed containers that won’t spill during transport. We all love a warm bowl of soup as a side dish with sandwiches or burgers, but we’ve yet to see a creamy chicken noodle club sandwich at any of our favorite restaurants, so make sure containers are sealed before leaving the restaurant.

Establishments that do employ a delivery driver can have much more control over the safety of your product during delivery. Make sure to stock up on insulated delivery bags in order to ensure freshness upon delivery.

What steps does your food safety manager take to keep your food safe during deliveries?