Christine Dantz, Author at Safe Food For Thought

May 9, 2022April 18, 2022

How To Guide For CFPMs Dealing With Foodborne Illness Complaints

Certified food protection managers (CFPMs) go to great lengths to keep the food they serve safe, but from time to time a customer may experience symptoms of a foodborne illness after eating in your establishment. While you don’t expect to hear a customer complain about being sick from consuming your product, you should still be prepared in the event they contact you to complain of symptoms. CFPMs with a plan to deal with foodborne illnesses can help deescalate a situation with an upset customer and can go a long way towards resolving a food safety issue you may be unaware of.

Certified Food Protection Manager Tips for Resolving Food Poisoning Complaints

There’s a right way and a wrong way for certified food managers to take phone calls concerning a possible food poisoning case. You should never start by assuming that the guest may have been sickened at home or at another restaurant. Taking the strategy that they may be at fault will instantly put them on the defensive. It’s also important not to be apathetic towards the situation, but rather act in a professional manner. When a guest complains of foodborne illness, the certified food protection manager should:

Be sympathetic
Gather as many details on their dining experience as possible
Assess the time frame between their patronage and symptoms
Offer to look into the situation
Promise to follow up with them if requested

CFPMs being concerned for your guests will show that you care about the safety of your food. We’re not talking about admitting fault without investigating, we’re simply talking about being sympathetic to the situation.

Details will be important, and they’ll also show that you’re taking the situation seriously. Make sure you find out when they dined in your establishment, what they ordered and how long afterward they experienced symptoms. It might also be a good idea to ask if anyone else in their party ordered the same menu items and if they experienced any symptoms. The timing and symptoms will be an important detail to note as it could pinpoint the type of pathogen that may have affected them.

After taking down this information, take the time to assess the possibility that this illness could have come from your restaurant. As a certified food protection manager, you should review food handling procedures for the product in question. If you find questionable practices or a gap in food safety training, you should address them as soon as possible.

Finally, certified food protection managers should follow up with your guest if they request it. If they’ve seen a doctor for symptoms and the diagnosis is a foodborne illness, address whether it is plausible the source was your facility. If you receive multiple complaints, you need to work with your local health department to resolve the issue.

As a CFPM how do you deal with foodborne illness reports?

May 2, 2022April 14, 2022

New Food Safety Management Training For Facilities Serving Susceptible Populations

Some recent updates to guidelines involving facilities that house or serve susceptible populations, and a few of those updates directly address food safety management training in these types of businesses. It may not be a rewrite of the actual code, but the Minnesota Department of Health has cleared up and outlined equipment guidelines for assisted living facilities and other outlets that specialize in serving those that may be more prone to foodborne illnesses.

New Kitchen Equipment Standards For Facilities Serving Susceptible Populations Will Impact Food Safety Management Training

Most kitchen equipment can be broken down into two categories:

Food preparation surfaces
Preparation equipment

Proper food safety management training for both of these categories must be certified or classified for proper sanitation by ANSI standards. When talking about food preparation surfaces, surfaces in medical facilities, child care centers, and senior activity centers must be:

Corrosion-resistant
Able to withstand repeated washing and sanitation
Finished with a smooth, cleanable surface
Resistant to scratching, pitting and other types of damage from contact with utensils

Food contact surfaces not only include cutting and mixing surfaces, but also include equipment that contains a surface that cooks food. Flattop grills, steam kettles and other devices that cook food must meet these standards. Food preparation equipment outside of preparation surfaces can include:

Walk-in refrigerators and freezers
Mechanical warewashing machines
Ice machines
Cooking equipment besides microwaves and toasters

With few exceptions, most cooking and mechanical equipment used to prepare food in facilities that serve a susceptible population must meet an ANSI standard. Food safety management training will point you to a sticker or emblem somewhere on your equipment that shows if it has been certified. Common certifications include:

NSF International (NSF)
ETl Sanitation
Underwriters Laboratory (UL)
Baking Industry Sanitation Standards Committee (BISSC)

If you serve susceptible populations have you updated the food safety management training you provide to your staff?

April 25, 2022April 18, 2022

Powerful New Reference Tools For Assisted Living MN ServSafe Managers

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.

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.

April 18, 2022April 11, 2022

The Dirty Truth About Food Safety Managers Air Drying Dishes

When training staff how to wash dishes by hand or proper procedures using a warewashing machine, food safety managers should always teach air drying dishes completely before they are put away. It may be tempting to stack drying dishes to save space or use a clean towel to speed up the process, but air drying offers the safest way to dry dishes from a food safety standpoint. In order to make this common practice it helps to explore the science behind air drying dishes in your kitchen versus other methods.

The Science Behind Air Drying Dishes for Food Safety Managers

Some food service employees may think that “dry is dry,” so why does it matter how we get there? Why can’t we simply use a towel or just put dishes away as soon as they’re done being washed?

Towel drying clean dishes produces a major cross-contamination risk and actually soils the dishes as you dry them. Imagine using the same bath towel every time you step out of the shower, but you’re showering hundreds of times a day. We’re not sure what you’re doing to require that many showers, but what you do on your own time is up to you.

Over the course of continued use, a damp towel can harbor bacteria, sanitizer solutions and be a breeding ground for foodborne illness culprits. All it would take is for one contaminated plate for your entire warewashing inventory to become a food poisoning nightmare.

Stacking your dishes before they dry is also a recipe for disaster. Most sanitizer solutions need to air dry to fully evaporate off of the surface of dishes. Stacking your dishes could trap the moisture and sanitizing solutions together increasing the risk these chemicals might come into contact with a customer’s meal. If moisture is trapped between stacked dishes for great lengths of time, it can also attract bacteria, mildew and even insects, so make sure dishes dry completely before storage.

Experienced food safety managers know the best solution to air drying dishes is to provide a stainless steel drying rack where dishes can be stored to dry. Make sure all dishes have space for air to travel through to promote drying and never line the shelves with towels or other materials that may absorb moisture and promote bacteria growth.

Do you have a well thought out solution for air drying your clean dishes?