Food Safety Blog and CFPM Resource Hub

December 31, 2018December 12, 2018

New MN Food Code Guide to Serving Highly-Susceptible Groups

Certified food protection managers equip themselves with the knowledge and tools to safely prepare food for their guests, but certain groups require additional precautions. The Department of Health has taken notice and added a section in the new MN food code guide to serving highly-susceptible groups, outlining the precautions that must be taken when serving these groups.

MN Food Code Guide to Serving Highly-Susceptible Groups

The language in the new code defines highly-susceptible groups as “…immunocompromised, pre-school aged children, or older adults.” If you’re a certified food manager at a hospital or other medical facility, care center for aging adults, pre-school or any facility that serves these groups, you should be aware of extra precautions you must take to prevent bacteria from reaching the people in your care.

The food code outlines a few precautions:

Undercooked eggs animal proteins may not be served or offered for sale
Raw eggs broken for preparation must be used immediately
Bare-hand contact with ready-to-eat foods is prohibited
Unpasteurized juices may not be served to children under the age of nine
Food and food packages served to medical patients in isolation cannot be re-served or reused

If you prepare meals for any of these populations, make sure to cook all products to the proper temperatures, and always check the internal temperature of animal proteins using the proper thermometer. It is also important to be aware of any food in the danger zone. Prevent raw meat and eggs from sitting at room temperature for any length of time, and always make sure your meals are served as soon as possible after preparation. This will prevent bacteria growth that could result in severe foodborne illness for compromised individuals.

Finally, if you serve contagious or isolated medical patients, never re-use food that may have been exposed. Use an abundance of caution with all utensils and food packages that have been used in serving patients. You may wish to look into disposable utensils and serving ware for these individuals.

Bacteria that may have little or no effect on the general populace has the potential to be fatal among sensitive groups. As a certified food manager, what precautions do you take to keep the food you serve safe for these groups?

December 17, 2018December 12, 2018

New MN Food Code Thermometer Rules

Starting January of next year, a new MN food code becomes effective. One altered rule from the previous code involves the types of thermometers that food managers use in their kitchens. This week, we’ll break down the new MN food code thermometer rules change and discuss changes to temperature requirements.

Image credit:King Arthur Flour an authorized dealer for ThermoWorks products

New MN Food Code Thermometer Rules Guide For ServSafe Food Managers

The new food code rules involving thermometers ensures that ServSafe food managers get proper readings when checking the temperature of their product. In order to do this, the new code restricts the use of standard bi-metallic stem thermometers. These standard thermometers can now only be used to gauge the temperatures of larger food items such as roasts or hot liquid products such as sauces or soups in a pan deep enough to submerge most of the stem.

For thinner food items such as chicken breasts, beef patties and any other thin item, a small-diameter probe thermometer must be used. These are more accurate, and, due to their relatively small size, they can be completely inserted into most foods without having their readings compromised if the probe is too close to the outside surface of your product.

Along with the required use of a small-diameter probe, the Minnesota Department of Health has elected to make a small change to hot-holding standards. Hot-holding temperatures have been reduced from 140 degrees to 135 degrees. Research has sufficiently shown that bacterial growth can be sufficiently controlled at 135 degrees. This five degree reduction gives ServSafe food managers the opportunity to serve a higher quality product while hot holding their foods.

How do you feel about the new regulations involving small diameter thermometers?

December 11, 2018December 11, 2018

The Food Safety Problem with Romaine Lettuce

November has come and gone, and with it another major food safety problem with Romaine lettuce causing an illness hazard and sickening your guests. This week, we’d like to look at some of the potential causes of these outbreaks, and how good food safety training helps prevent sickening your guests with contaminated lettuce.

Hints On How To Prevent A Food Safety Problem with Romaine Lettuce

Like most vegetables, romaine lettuce grows in the dirt, and as we all know, dirt is dirty. Soil contains all sorts of bacteria and contaminates, it is home is insects and snails, and it can be further contaminated by fertilizers and other outside sources. Even the water that farmers use to water their crops can be contaminated with bacteria that can be harmful to people who consume the final product.

Some farms that grow our produce also house livestock. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that manure can spread from one section of the farm to another on a worker’s boots or the tread of a tractor tire. As you can imagine, there are infinite possibilities as to how romaine lettuce becomes a health hazard, but what can we do about it?

Unfortunately, keeping the food from becoming contaminated on the farm is outside of the scope of what we do as a food safety training provider, however, we can help you take steps to keep lettuce in your restaurant clean and free from contaminates. Here are a few steps you should take:

Inspect lettuce upon delivery
Wash lettuce thoroughly
Be alert for recalls
Dispose of potentially contaminated romaine lettuce

A close inspection of your lettuce will reveal how much soil has been shipped with your product or if bugs and snails have tagged along for the ride. If you feel that your lettuce isn’t up to food safety standards, don’t be afraid to reject the shipment.

It’s not just a food safety problem with Romaine, all fresh produce should be washed thoroughly before serving, but lettuces such as romaine need extra attention. There’s a reason that you hear about more food poising cases from lettuce than potatoes. Potatoes and many other fruits and vegetables have one continuous outside surface, so a quick wash gets rid of more bacteria than a quick wash of a head of lettuce. We suggest washing your lettuce after taking the leaves off of the head in order to rinse areas that won’t be cleaned if the head is washed whole.

Finally, be aware of recalls and dispose of compromised lettuce. Taking a hit on food cost is a much better option that sickening your guests.

Did your business suffer from that latest recall of romaine lettuce?

December 3, 2018November 12, 2018

Update MN Food Code Effective Date for ServSafe Food Managers

Over the past few months, we’ve previewed some of the coming changes to the MN Food Code, but up until recently, we have yet to have a firm date for when these changes will take effect. According to a September release of the Minnesota State Register, an official publication of the state of Minnesota’s Executive Branch, we finally have a date when the new food code amendments will be enacted.

Effective January 1, 2019, the proposed amendments to the MN Food Code replace the code we have been using for many years. According to the introduction of the proposal, the reason for the changes in our 20-year old food code was to “continue a shift toward food sanitation and safety measures critical to preventing foodborne disease.”

There are several other justifications for updating the food code, including shifting away from the specific kinds of materials and equipment can used during production and re-emphasizing hygiene, sanitation and proper temperature control. In short, some of the changes to the code give ServSafe food managers more freedom in the equipment they use while at the same time giving them more responsibility for training, monitoring and correcting sanitation and food preparation methods.

What do these changes mean for Minnesota ServSafe food managers? First, many of the changes in the food code involve the language of the code itself. A few sections, such as the responsibilities of the food manager, have been reworded in a manner that eliminates some confusion. Some of these changes, such as equipment regulations, give you more freedom to run your business without being over restricted.

At Safe Food Training, we’ve been discussing some of the top changes to the code, and will continue to delve deeper in the coming months. Are there any issues you’d like us to look into?