Christine Dantz, Author at Safe Food For Thought

May 9, 2017May 9, 2017

New FDA Menu Labeling Guidelines and Food Manager Certification in MN

Effective the first week in May, the FDA requires all chain restaurants with 20 locations or more to post nutritional information for their menu items. This impacts menu design and how customers view the dishes that you serve.

The FDA rules apply to restaurants or businesses that serve restaurant-style items and have similar menus at 20 or more locations with the same name. Some exceptions exist for grocery-style items that require further preparation at home such as salad kits, deli meats and cheeses. The types of items that now require posted nutrition information include:

- Take out item such as pizza and prepared sandwiches
- Bakery items served over the counter or in coffee shops
- Scoops of ice cream intended for immediate consumption
- Certain alcoholic beverages

Nutrition is not a topic that is required for you to obtain your food manager certification in MN, but it will be necessary for supervisors to make sure that nutritional information is properly displayed. If you’re a supervisor at a chain with over 20 locations, your corporate office should send you all of the information that you need, but the information that the FDA requires on display includes:

- - - Suggested total daily calorie consumption
    - Total calories and calories from fat in each menu item
    - Sodium
    - Carbohydrates, fiber and sugars

The FDA also requires food served in vending machines to visibly post nutritional information. This information can be available next to each item in the machine or on a digital display, but it must be visible in a place other than the package of the item.

The FDA suggests that making nutritional information available will help consumers make healthier dietary choices. Would nutritional information change your mind about ordering a double-cheese burger and selecting a fresh salad instead?

May 2, 2017May 14, 2017

Blogs and the ServSafe Food Manager

We cover all sorts of food safety topics in our ServSafe food manager training courses, but occasionally we come across a topic that strays from our standard instruction. We already know that businesses rely on social media for free marketing opportunities, and we recently discussed how using a regular blog can help keep your business on potential customers’ minds.

How a Blog can Help the ServSafe Food Manager

Facebook and Twitter hold people’s attention numerous times a day, and as they scroll through their feeds posts from your business will appear. Getting them to click on your post and look further into what your food preparation outlet has to offer can be accomplished, but you need to have something to offer them.

When considering a blog, make sure that you don’t attempt to use it as a sales pitch. Yes, the purpose of a marketing blog is to help the ServSafe food manager attract customers, but consumers are bombarded with online ads and suggested posts that are nothing more than thinly veiled advertisements. While you benefit from informing potential customers about your restaurant, it is key to expand your blog beyond what is on your menu or what product you sell.

It’s also important to keep you material fresh. If your blog covers the same material time after time, potential customers will keep scrolling or even unlike your business’ page. Expand beyond your niche. purpose of a marketing blogon the fringe of your industry, or display your involvement in community events. Whatever direction you take, keep it interesting and engaging for your readers.

Finally, make sure that you regularly update your material. Readers may check in from time to time to see if you have any new articles available. There is no set rule, but keeping your site updated weekly, bi-weekly or monthly reminds readers that you’re still out there.

We feel that blogs work as a marketing tool. Do you have any special marketing tools to keep your social media fresh?

April 25, 2017April 5, 2017

Food Safety Certified Professionals and Microwave Use

Many restaurants employ a secret weapon that some food safety certified professionals call their digital chef. The digital chef refers to a facility’s microwave, and while most restaurants and food producers prefer to cook everything as fresh as possible, instances occur when microwave cooking becomes unavoidable.

Proper Microwave Use for Food Safety Certified Workers

All food cooked in a microwave needs to maintain an internal temperature of 165 degrees before being served. No food cooked any lower than well-done can be served if cooked in a microwave, and reheated precooked food must meet the 165-degree requirement. Once food reaches the temperature requirement, the Minnesota Food Code states that cooked product needs to stand for two minutes before serving in order to maintain temperature.

The method used for microwave cooking depends on what type of food your digital chef must prepare. The following guide shows specific rules that the food code requires you to adhere to.

Rotate all product must halfway through cooking
Stir liquid foods such as soup periodically to achieve an even temperature
Cover raw product to maintain moisture

When we discuss the thawing of raw proteins in ServeSafe training courses, we recommend that food safety certified professionals use a microwave as a last resort. Any frozen item thawed in a microwave needs to be cooked and served immediately. Product thawed in a microwave cannot be stored for later use.

Microwaves can sometimes be a lifesaver in the kitchen, but every food service worker should be aware of safe procedures to prevent food-borne illness as a result. Do you rely on your digital chef, or do you prefer to cook 100 percent of your product from scratch?

April 18, 2017April 5, 2017

Hand Sanitizer and Safe Food Handling Practices

During online food safety courses, students learn that hand washing prevents the spread of food-borne illness. From time to time, a student asks what role hand sanitizers play in killing bacteria, and if hand sanitizer benefits food service workers.

Safe Food Handling Practices and Hand Sanitizers

The Minnesota Department of Health allows for hand sanitizer use in food production facilities. However, hand sanitizers must not replace proper hand washing in any situation. Effective hand sanitizers kill viruses and bacteria, but only hand washing removes dirt, grime and grease from underneath fingernails or the natural crevices in human skin. Just to review the safe food handling practices, proper hand washing involves:

Washing under hot water
The use of plenty of soap
Scrubbing for at least 20 seconds

If the Department of Health rules state that all food service workers must wash their hands after handling raw meat, using the bathroom or doing anything that contaminates their hands, when can a hand sanitizer be used?

If you feel the need to use a hand sanitizer to kill bacteria, you must wash your hands immediately after use and before handling food. Washing your hands after using a sanitizer will not negate the virus killing effects. In fact, washing your hands removes fragrances and other chemicals that exist in commercially produced hand sanitizers than could make your guests sick.

Finally, the food code allows hand sanitizers in situations where product is not handled by hand. This occurs in retail or grocery situations where food product is sealed or in instances where utensils are the only means of food handling.

The use of hand sanitizers is only one of many concerns that many professionals ask for clarification on food code regulations. If you have any other situations you’d like us to cover, please leave a question in the comments section below.