Christine Dantz, Author at Safe Food For Thought

January 6, 2020December 27, 2020

What Does 2021 Hold For Certified Food Protection Managers

2020 is over, and we see hope on the horizon. The food industry will survive, rebound and thrive once again. Here’s some great news we see in 2021 for certified food protection managers and the food business community:

There’s no way of sugar-coating it. 2020 was a complete disaster. Analogies of dumpster fires, train wrecks, the Titanic and dumpster fires on train wrecks on the Titanic just don’t seem to cut it.

While many industries took a severe hit, the food industry may have been hit the hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions put in place in order to try to stem the tide of the virus. We’d be lying if we said we didn’t know certified food protection managers who had been laid off, restaurants that have shuttered their doors temporarily or food sector businesses that have been forced to close for good. Many have persevered through government PPP loans, while some have just given up on the process.

4 Indicators Of Better Times for Certified Food Protection Managers in 2021

Vaccines should improve herd immunity
Dining rooms will reopen
In-person food safety training will return
Diners are anxious to return to their favorite local restaurants

With the gradual roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccine, we should see the eventual development of herd immunity. Once this state is reached, cases should begin to plummet.

The general public is anxious to return to normal, and there’s a huge urge for diners to go sit in the dining rooms of their favorite restaurants. Takeout is great, but nothing beats the experience of sitting down and enjoying local cuisine with friends and family. We predict restaurants will eventually open at full capacity and demand will be great. Dining rooms will fill up, shuttered restaurants will reopen and chefs will open exciting new eateries.

Low cases will also lead to the loosening of restrictions that have prevented CFPMs from completing their food safety management training. Classrooms will open for in-person sessions allowing students to interact with food safety trainers rather than rely on web-based classes. Testing sessions can hold more students allowing managers who have been waiting months for certification and recertification to take the exams in a timely manner.

While there is hope, the rollout of the vaccine and the defeat of coronavirus won’t happen overnight. Remain vigilant. Wear masks, follow social distancing guidelines and hang in there. Hope is around the corner for certified food protection managers in 2021!

December 30, 2019December 19, 2019

Another Romaine Recall Affects Certified Food Protection Managers

Recall Effects Certified Food Protection Managers

Here we go again. Near the end of November, the CDC reported 40 people in 16 states have fallen ill due to E.coli found in romaine lettuce grown in the Salinas growing region in California. Due to the vast amount of lettuce grown in this region, the FDA strongly urged consumers to dispose of all romaine in any form if there was any uncertainty as to where the lettuce was grown. This means that grocery stores, foodservice suppliers and restaurants were unable to use whole heads of romaine, hearts of romaine, chopped romaine or salad mixes that contain romaine. This left a multitude of affected certified food protection managers scrambling to find alternatives, especially considering the recall occurred just before a very busy Thanksgiving week.

Romaine Alternatives for Affected Certified Food Protection Managers During Recall

Romaine is a staple in the food industry. Due to its crisp texture and traditional use in Caesar salads, it’s always heavily in demand, but what can CFPMs do when it’s suddenly unavailable?

First thing certified food protection managers must do is inform guests that romaine lettuce is unavailable. This can be as easy as including a notice in your menus or in a visible location before guests are seated or served. Many guests may not follow the news and may have a negative reaction to being served a different type of product than what is listed on your menu.

Secondly, you may want to find as close of an alternative as possible. With the latest recall happening just before Thanksgiving, we’ve heard stories from foodservice professionals that even other forms of lettuce had become scarce due to demand for a romaine replacement and an abundance of caution concerning all produce from the Salinas growing region. While nothing really has the crunch and flavor of romaine, there are a few potential alternatives:

Iceberg Lettuce
Butter Lettuce
Green Leaf Lettuce
Leafy Greens

Of the above alternatives, none will have the crunch factor of a crisp romaine heart, but iceberg, butter and green leaf varieties of lettuce will still have similar flavors and could provide an adequate substitute until romaine once again available. We’ve heard of some certified food managers thinking outside the box and replacing some menu items with different salads containing leafy greens such as kale, bok choy and spinach.

We’re interested in how certified food protection managers have been affected by recent romaine recalls. What alternatives did you use during the latest romaine recall?

December 23, 2019December 23, 2019

Applying Product Traceability Software for Smarter Food Safety

smarter food safety product traceability

Back in October, we covered a public forum put on by the FDA concerning the future of food safety. Just recently, the FDA has released the transcripts from nearly every session, giving those of us in the food safety training industry plenty of material to dig through concerning their vision for the future of food safety in our country. This week we’d like to take a look at a few of the ideas presented at the New Ara of Smarter Food Safety meeting involving the use of product traceability technology to quickly find the source of foodborne illness outbreaks.

Achieving Smarter Food Safety in the Supply Chain Using product Traceability Software

When it comes to foodborne illness tracing, it would be ideal if the FDA and CDC could immediately identify the source of contamination. For example, if someone consumes tainted lettuce in Minnesota and becomes ill, the FDA could find out the source of the contaminated product in New Mexico and take immediate action. This isn’t exactly possible with the way the supply chain works today.

Raw food products come from many different parts of the country, and certified food managers may receive a shipment of greens from California one week and Arizona the next. In fact, there are many occasions where the warehouse run by your food supplier has very little information about where your product originated. In the case of an outbreak, it takes some time to figure out exactly where the tainted product came from, potentially leaving the door open for the further spread of illness.

The big question is; How can we solve this?

During a Smarter Food Safetypresentation on product traceability, a spokesperson from the software company FoodLogiq suggested that advanced software could be used to create a roadmap for the entire supply chain. This would mean that software could be used at all levels of the supply chain from growers and farmers to individual food service facilities such as restaurants and retail producers to instantly tell you the travel history of any given product from farm to fork. But is this feasible?

We think this is a great idea, but it would take time to implement. As it stands now, there is no one high-tech method being endorsed for product traceability. That means one shipper could use a different system than another, and along the way product can’t be traced due to conflicting systems. There also appears to be little incentive for smaller operations to use this software. Small one outlet restaurants and independent farmers have enough on their plate without having to research, purchase and maintain tracking software.

If the FDA Era of Smarter Food Safety vision can come up with a product traceability standard to track nearly every single ingredient, foodborne illness outbreaks can be easily contained. Do you think an overarching tracing system could be implemented to track product and stop outbreaks before they become widespread?

December 16, 2019December 5, 2019

Certified Food Protection Manager and Christmas Service

Certified Food Protection Managers and Christmas

We like to pay attention to growing trends in the foodservice community, and we’re noticing a lot more restaurants are advertising that they’ll be open on Christmas Day. While it’s not abnormal for large national chains to open on Christmas, we’re also hearing that certified food protection managers of many local restaurants may decide to open on Christmas Day as well.

Certified Food Protection Manager Opening Your Restaurant on Christmas Day?

There seems to be growing demand among diners for Christmas service at local restaurants year after year, and we’re not just talking about breakfast and lunch. Many patrons have already hosted Christmas parties, entertained out of town guests and are looking for someone else to do the cooking and cleaning up on this festive holiday. But how should restauranteurs decide whether or not to open on the 25th of December?

The first thing you should consider is demand. Will there be a demand for your cuisine on Christmas Day? While there are many cultures that do not celebrate Christmas and certain types of restaurants already have a built-in clientele, you’re certified food protection manager will have to decide if your restaurant fits into that category. If not, then you may wish to promote a special Christmas menu should you feel the need to open on Christmas Day.

The second thing you should consider is your staff. Many families have Christmas traditions, and you may not have enough staff willing to work on Christmas Day itself. You could suddenly become a very unpopular certified food protection manager should you force your staff to work both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

A happy staff is a hard-working staff, so we suggest you poll your staff or maybe look for volunteers to work on the holidays, or allow staff to work either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day to fill out empty stations should you not have enough staff willing to work. It’s also a great idea to offer the incentive of holiday pay or some sort of bonus for spending their Christmas at work.

How do you feel about opening your restaurant on Christmas Day>