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New Year’s Online Food Manager Certification Renewal

New Year’s Online Food Manager Certification Renewal

This month, we celebrated a huge milestone and released our 100th food safety blog. While we could rest on our laurels, we are going to renew our dedication to helping keep the food produced in our state as safe as possible. With the ringing in of the New Year, we resolve to continue providing convenient HACCP online training and certification, informative instructor led classes and pertinent information and food safety tips in our blog. This is also a time for food service workers to reflect on the past year, and prepare to continue in their efforts to keep their guests safe. One way to do that is to make sure that all of your certifications are in order.

 

Online Food Manager Certification Renewal

For ease of record keeping and in order to stay compliant with the Minnesota food code, a copy of all employees’ food safety certifications should be readily accessible. We also recommend sorting your employee food handler’s licenses by date of expiration, so that you know which employees are due to take a renewal course.

The New Year is the perfect time to remind your staff to take care of their food safety training. January tends to be a slower month for the food industry, so finding the time to schedule classes and examinations is easier when business is slow.

We understand that employees are also brought on at many times of the year, so diligence is necessary year round, but we have heard from food industry managers that training employees in groups rather that one at a time over the course of the year makes for a smoother process. If you have several employees that are due for renewal within a reasonable time frame, it is not uncommon to renew a few employees’ certifications well before the expiration date.

Finally, this is also a good time to make sure that your designated food safety manager has their certifications up to date. There are multiple certifications that the state of Minnesota accepts, and depending on which one your company requires, January is a good time to take an online food manager certification course for:

  • • Certified Food Safety Manager (NRFSP)
  • ServSafe
  • Prometric certified Food Manager
  • Learn2Serve Protection Manager

NRFSP and ServSafe are the two most commonly taken training courses, and we can help tailor a course that specifically addresses your needs whether you require full staff training or simply need a refresher course before taking any renewal exam.

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Extreme Weather Closure Tips for Certified Food Managers

Extreme Weather Closure Tips for Certified Food Managers

The winter months bring colder temperatures and the potential for incredible amounts of snow. Sometimes the winter conditions in our state create a scenario where roads are treacherous until they can be cleared and hazardous travel conditions dissipate. While every business strives to stay open and be available to provide services to a loyal customer base, circumstances inevitably arise where a certified food manager has to make the call to close up shop for the day.

Certified Food Managers and Snow Closures

If serious weather occurs, having a plan helps keep your staff and customers informed. If there is an active warning or alert, the certified food manager should monitor it closely. Employees on shift during a predicted storm should be notified ahead of time, and if you plan on opening but wish to adjust for lower business volume due to weather, cutting a staff member or two’s shift may help save on labor cost if guests stay home.

You need to communicate with potential guests if you plan on closing for the day or shutting down a few hours earlier than normal. In the past this used to be a major challenge, but we live in the age of the internet. Many consumers turn to social media outlets like Twitter and Facebook during winter storms to verify if a restaurant is open, so keeping your guests updated via these outlets will pass the message along to a majority of your potential customers.

Once you reopen, check to see if entryways are safe for guests to enter and leave. Clearing icy surfaces such as sidewalks and stairs can prevent slips and falls and create an inviting appeal to your restaurant. Oftentimes employee entrances can be overlooked in bad weather scenarios, so make sure that your staff has a clear and safe way to access your facility.

Finally, enjoy the weather. Food management is a stressful and time-consuming profession. Build a snowman or drink your favorite warm beverage and relax in front of the fire.

We want to know your extreme weather strategies. Do you feel obliged to open your doors no matter what conditions may be, do you play it safe or is your winter weather plan somewhere in the middle? Leave your thoughts for us in the comment section below.

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Food Safe Training Guide to E. coli

Food Safe Training Guide to E. coli

Over the past few months, we’ve run a series of articles focusing on the most common causes of food-borne illnesses and product recalls. This month, we continue our series with a look at how E. coli and the related STEC bacteria strains are spread and how you can prevent your guests from consuming contaminated food.

Food Safe Training Guide to E. coli

Food Safe Training and E. coli

E. coli poisoning recently garnered national attention with a nationwide outbreak traced to Chipotle restaurants. Even with this high-profile case, E. coli is no longer ranked as a top-five cause of food-borne illness according to the CDC. It is, however, still very important to understand how to reduce the risk of spreading illness due to E. coli because according to this same study, this bacterium causes over 2,000 hospitalizations each year.

In order to control the spread of E. coli, we must first know where it comes from. The STEC strains may exist in:

  • Undercooked ground beef
  • Unpasteurized milk and cheese
  • Unpasteurized juices
  • Alfalfa sprouts
  • Unwashed vegetables

If you have worked in the food industry for a length of time, you know that you must cook ground beef thoroughly in order to kill E. coli, but some of the other causes might come as a surprise. We have discussed the dangers of serving raw milk products numerous times in the past, and we can now add the potential for E. coli poisoning to the list of risks involved with consuming unpasteurized dairy products.

Raw fruits and vegetables pose a threat that often goes undetected. While the STEC bacterium does not naturally occur in raw produce, exposure to cross contamination is a real risk. E. coli naturally occurs in the digestive tract of livestock, and it spreads through contact with the animal, its feces or raw milk. Produce can be contaminated simply by a farmer walking through a cow pasture and transferring it to the soil raw vegetables grow in by wearing the same shoes. The same can happen with farm equipment on a much larger scale.

To keep your vegetables safe, especially leafy greens and sprouts, we urge you to wash all produce that you receive before serving it to guests or incorporating it into other menu items.

Next month, our series will continue as we tackle the number-one culprit of food-borne illness, the easily spread norovirus.