Food Safety Blog and CFPM Resource Hub

ServSafe Training and Wooden Plank Serving Utensils

March 11, 2019/0 Comments/in Food Recalls & Safety Alerts/by Christine Dantz

While dining out recently, we came across a restaurant which served us a delicious meal with a gorgeous presentation on a wooden plank rather than typical plateware. This got us thinking, about ServSafe training and wooden plank serving utensils. Do we need special steps to prevent food-borne illnesses from food served on wood planks and other alternative serving items?

ServSafe Training and Wooden Plank -Sanitation

ServSafe training tells us that all flatware must be sanitized between uses. Normally, this is done in a mechanical dishwashing machine or hand washed in a triple sink system. Can wooden serving boards be sanitized in the same way?

Wood is tricky to sanitize. Over time and repeated uses, small cuts from knives and other utensils form. Bacteria can hide and multiply in these cuts and dishwashing chemicals can seep in and potentially contaminate food. Extra care must be taken to ensure proper sanitation. We recommend using a triple sink and air drying method to clean wooden serving boards, and to do so immediately after use.

We’ve seen these large wooden boards featured on buffet lines as well. Many of these are crafted in a manner where a heat lamp is permanently attached. These are especially tricky to sanitize. Take care to wash and sanitize these by hand as soon as possible after every use.

A key to keeping food served on these boards is to make sure that you are using food-service-grade serving ware. These boards are harder and more resistant to wear and tear, and should be available from your local supplier. When investing in wooden serving materials, remember that these will not last forever and over time will need to be replaced.

What if you’re interested in wooden serving boards, but would rather not invest in costly materials that will need to be replaced on a regular basis? We’ve done some digging, and laminated wood boards and faux-wood plates look like a great alternative. Food-grade laminated wooden planks and fake wood can be easier to wash, many times in your standard dishwashing machine, and have a much longer life than expensive real wooden planks. While it is possible to spot the difference between real and fake wood, we see this as a safer and more cost effective investment into alternative serving ware.

Do you use wooden serving planks or any other type of serving ware other than standard plates in your restaurant?

Online Food Safety Training Update on Non-Continuous Cooking

March 4, 2019/0 Comments/in Certified Food Protection Manager Training/by Christine Dantz

Back in November, we covered an interesting addition to the Minnesota Food Code revision; non-continuous cooking- the ability to halt the cooking process and resume at a later time. At the time, we only had some basic information and a rough draft of the new food code, but now that the code is in effect, the Department of Health has released fact sheets and more detailed information about this procedure.

Non-Continuous Cooking Procedures

The procedure for non-continuous cooking can be broken down into five steps:

Cook product for 60 minutes or less
Cool food properly within two hours
Store product below 41 degrees
Cook food completely when reheating
Serve immediately, hot-hold or cool properly for later use

This process offers a solution for certified food managers who wish to partially cook raw animal product or other sensitive items and reserve under refrigeration or in the freezer until the time comes to cook and serve. Along with these five steps, the health department requires documentation for this process which must be reviewed and approved by the proper regulatory official, namely your health inspector.

Include the following vital information in your documentation and proposal to be reviewed:

The monitoring and implementation process of the five required steps
Corrective actions if the five steps are not met properly
How partially cooked product will be labeled or identified
Steps taken to prevent cross contamination with ready-to-eat foods

We have a few quick notes concerning these new rules. You may wish to review your online food safety training concerning cooling and temperature control and proper cooking temperatures. Remember, all product must reach the correct temperature before serving. The non-continuous cooking method should never be used for product that may be served undercooked at customer request. Undercooking previously partially cooked meats presents an increased food-borne illness risk.

We’ve found local health inspectors are more willing to work with food producers to ensure that these new rules are followed correctly. Feel free to contact your health department if you’re ready to have your proposal reviewed or if you have any questions.

How CFPMs Use Freezing to Slow Bacteria

February 25, 2019/0 Comments/in ServSafe & NEHA Best Practices/by Christine Dantz

In one of our Certified Food Protection Manager training classes during our recent record breaking cold snap, a student asked “whether CFPMs use freezing or refreezing foods to kill bacteria in meat products and ready-to-eat foods? If we store our product outside in the snow at negative 30 degrees, it should be too cold for bacteria to survive, right?”

Freezing product properly does in fact promote food safety and reduce the risk of food-borne illness, but simply freezing everything potentially increases the risk of food-borne illness and gives a false sense of security as to how safe the food we serve really is.

CFPMs Use Freezing for Food Safety

Before we get into our discussion, it’s important to answer the question, “Does freezing proteins kill bacteria?”

There’s a lot of misinformation out there concerning how germs and bacteria react to sub-zero temperatures, but we learn in online Certified Food Protection Manager training, freezing food does not kill bacteria. Freezing food stops the growth of germs and bacteria, so effective use of your freezer to store product that isn’t intended for immediate use keeps bacteria at bay while preserving food for later use. Cooking meats, ready-to-eat foods and other products to the proper temperatures is the only way to actually kill bacteria. Freezing solidly for at least a week will kill parasites but not bacteria.

So, when can CFPMs use freezing to safely store product?

If you don’t plan on using incoming product soon, freeze it as soon as possible. This will add life to your product, and prevent the slow growth of bacteria. Letting your meats sit under refrigeration for a few days and then deciding you’re not going to use it can pose a bacteria risk, depending on what type of product it is. Fish and seafood have a limited shelf life, so while freezing it will slow the growth of contaminates, it will still contain those harmful bacteria when thawed.

Cooked foods need to be cooled properly before freezing them. Cooked product must be chilled in an ice bath or in small portions. For example, a large, warm pot of soup cannot be simply put into a freezer in a large bucket. Bacteria will grow as the soup sits in the danger zone while freezing and wake up when the soup is eventually thawed. The same goes for cooked roasts and large amounts of meat.

Finally, a caution against freezing thawed product. Product thawed in the microwave or under running water cannot be re-frozen. Food properly thawed under refrigeration may be re-frozen if done so in a reasonable time frame, but we recommend against this as thawing and re-freezing can cause quality issues with your product.

Do you have a regulated method to control freezing and thawing of your product?

A Guide to the Proper Use of MN Food Code Fact Sheets

February 18, 2019/in ServSafe & NEHA Best Practices/by Christine Dantz

The MN Food Code Fact sheets provided by the health department are a free and easy-to-use guide to nearly any food safety issue. The ServSafe Food Manager controls food safety in their establishment, but there are many training tools available to help them educate their staff, monitor procedures and go the extra mile to keep their guests safe.

Using MN Fact Sheets to Promote Food Safety

Fact sheets should be readily accessible to all employees. Our best suggestion is to have them posted visibly in stations where they are relevant. For example, a fact sheet on cooling should be posted near sinks used for ice baths, cooking temperatures should be kept on the line and proper handwashing signage should be posted at all handwashing stations.

There are many different fact sheets, and some of them may be important for your day-to-day operations, but some only need referencing occasionally. For example, a fact sheet on equipment guidelines may be useless posted in your facility, but it’s still valuable information. We recommend keeping an accessible binder with all fact sheets relevant to your operation whether you post them visibly or not. This resource gives ServSafe food managers easy access for training and review of information that isn’t required on a daily basis.

Finally, many of the fact sheets have changed with the recent update of the Minnesota Food Code, we strongly urge you to remove any fact sheets dated before January 1, 2019, and replace them with the m ost recent updates.

Have you taken the time to review the newest MN food code fact sheets available and print out and post ones that help keep your employees informed on the latest food-safety rules?