Food Safety Blog and CFPM Resource Hub

May 23, 2017May 9, 2017

Food Manager Course Guide to Foreign Objects in Prepared Foods

Occasionally, a news story breaks about a recall for foreign objects in pre-packaged foods. For the most part, the contaminating object breaks off of production equipment or comes from an employee, but recently a producer voluntarily recalled packages of frozen hash browns for containing parts of golf balls. We’re not sure if the company shared packaging facilities with a sporting goods store or if the potato farm doubled as a driving range, but we’re sure that strict oversight and review of food manager course guidelines may have prevented this situation.

Preventing Outside Contaminates in Packaged Food Products

If you’re a certified food manager that oversees a production facility, you need to review your procedures from time to time. Hopefully, your staff understands that items such as golf balls don’t have a place on the production floor, but it may be a good idea to take the time to remind your team about what belongs in your production facility and what does not.

We suggest that you train your team to keep any objects that do not relate to their duties away from preparation areas. Here are a few tips to prevent unnecessary contaminates from ending up in your product:

Provide lockers for employees’ personal items
Keep uniforms simple without buttons and removable badges
Frequently inspect equipment for loose or broken parts

Most cases of foreign items causing food hazards arise from negligence or a lack of control over what is brought to the production floor. If you have a safe place for employees to store personal items such as keys, loose change and sporting goods, there will be less chance of these items falling out of their pockets and into your food. Keeping employee lockers away from the production floor will further decrease the odds that foreign objects will end up of food packages.

Broken and worn out equipment is also a likely culprit when it comes to non-food ingredients falling into packaged foods. Inspect your equipment on a regular basis to ensure that everything is in good working order. This will not only prevent parts from falling off, but will also alert you to any problems that could eventually shut down production.

While food manager courses can give us the guidelines to

Contaminates in Packaged Food

, our continued diligence and training is important to keep our customers safe. What other steps do you take to keep foreign objects out of your food?

May 16, 2017May 11, 2017

The Top Food-Borne Illnesses and the ServSafe Food Manager

There have been several outbreaks of food-borne illnesses that received national attention in the past year, but are the pathogens that receive the most media attention the biggest culprits that sicken consumers? This week, we take a look back at the top causes of food-borne illness.

Common Food-Borne Illnesses and the ServSafe Food Manager

Now that the data from 2016 has been compiled, we’ve learned some interesting things about food-borne illness trends. The top four causes of illnesses in 2016 included:

Campylobacter
Salmonella
Shigella
E. coli

While Salmonella and E. coli dominate the news cycle whenever there an outbreak happens, the number one cause of food-borne illness generally goes unreported. Campylobacter causes fever, nausea and abdominal pain and most commonly effect small children and young adults. We hear very little about this bacterium because serious cases rarely happen and only a few long-term complications can occur. Although rare, some of the more serious cases of infection have been linked to appendicitis and arthritic-like symptoms. Campylobacter contaminates food that has come into contact with animal or human fecal matter and commonly comes from chicken and poultry products. It also exists on unwashed fruits and vegetables that grow where a chicken manure based fertilizer is used or food product that is handled by unclean hands.

Shigella bacterium sometimes causes serious symptoms and is closely related to dysentery. Studies show that as little as 100 ingested bacteria can lead to symptoms, making Shigella the easiest contracted food-borne illness when present in food. ServSafe food managers must train their staff diligently to prevent the spread of Shigella since severe cases can cause seizures, intense abdominal pain and a risk of death in the elderly and those with compromised immune systems. Proper hand washing reduces the risk of the spread of Shigella, and those that contract it should be aware that it spreads for weeks after symptoms have dissipated.

Modern data collection and the reporting of illness statistics gives us a wider view of health concerns that result from improper food handling. Are there any rarely covered issues that you’d like us to address in a future article?

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?