Shutdown Creates Food Safety Challenges

How the Government Shutdown Creates Food Safety Challenges

/in /by

It’s been one of the biggest news stories of the past couple of weeks. The government has been shut down while the President and Congress try to hammer out a budget deal. As a result of this shutdown, thousands of government employees have been furloughed and certain agencies no longer have the funding to operate. At Food Safety Training, we usually keep our noses out of politics, but in this case, the shutdown has created challenges to keeping the food we serve safe.

Shutdown Creates Food Safety Challenges

Image Credit: Picryl

Food Safety Challenges During a Government Shutdown

According to several reports, the FDA has lost funding due to the current shutdown. This means that many of the routine inspections that occur on a daily basis have ceased, and products from uninspected facilities are making their way onto grocery shelves and into the food supply used by restaurants and other industrial kitchens.

The FDA employs in the neighborhood of 5,000 inspectors and runs nearly 160 inspections per month. Those are inspections that are currently not happening. So what can certified food managers do to ensure their product is safe?

  • Inspect all ingredients for potential food safety hazards
  • Wash all produce
  • Cook all meats to the proper temperature
  • Take steps to train all staff on proper food handling procedures

The news isn’t all doom and gloom, however. While the FDA inspection process may have halted, there is still some measure of food safety control. USDA inspections of meat and some egg producers are still occurring as scheduled, the CDC is still funded in the event an agency needs to step in during a food-borne illness outbreak and foreign food inspections on products that are imported to the United States has continued. There is also speculation that the FDA may be preparing to resume inspections on facilities that produce high-risk products.

Besides governmental oversight, many of the largest food manufacturers employ their own inspectors to keep the food that leaves their facilities safe. It’s always in a company’s best interest to make sure their product will not sicken their customers, and while some food hazards slip through the cracks, many food producers have their own checks outside of government inspection.

Are there any food safety challenges that you see as a result of the government shutdown?

Food Safety Standards for Automated Restaurants

Food Safety Standards for Automated Restaurants

/0 Comments/in /by

It may sound like we’re pulling this story out of an episode of the Jetson’s, but the future is here and automated mobile restaurants are starting becoming a reality. That got us to thinking, in the absence of employees and ServSafe food managers that have completed food safety courses, how exactly will we know if the food safety standards are being maintained in future automated restaurants?

Food Safety Standards for Automated Restaurants
Image credit: Corneillia5 via Wikimedia

Food Safety Standards and the Future of Restaurant Automation

While current examples of automated restaurants appear to be types of juice and smoothie bars, it’s not too hard to fathom that technology will eventually provide opportunities for automation to serve more complicated dishes that require storing and cooking raw foods.

While the Minnesota food code doesn’t currently contain a section regarding robot chefs, we’d have to speculate that much more than the cooking process would have to be automated. Sanitation procedures would have to be closely followed, and we feel those procedures should at least be moderated and supervised by a living, breathing human being. Here are just some procedures we feel would have to be monitored by a ServSafe food manager:

  • Hot and Cold Holding Temperatures
  • Sanitation of Cooking Utensils
  • Temperatures of Finished Product
  • Quality of Raw Ingredients

As we all know, machinery can malfunction and even our computers freeze up from time to time. Without human observation, who’s to say that a robotic restaurant hasn’t had some sort of memory failure? If storage temperatures drop for hot-held foods or refrigeration fails, will an automated system have fail-proof safeguards for preventing customers from receiving tainted product?

Another major issue we see with automation is the quality of product. Not all products store for the same duration of time, and there can be product that may be spoiled or damaged that an organic chef can spot that robotic system won’t be programmed to assess.

While the Foodarackacycle may be several decades off, the foodservice industry and ServSafe food managers will have to adjust as automation becomes more and more prevalent.

How do you feel about the concept of maintaining food safety standards for automated restaurants without on-site human monitoring?

Resource Guide to the New Minnesota Food Code

A Quick Resource Guide to the New Minnesota Food Code

/in /by

The new Minnesota Food Code take effect January 1, 2019.Over the past few months, we’ve covered many of these new changes, and this week we’d like to give food safety managers a quick resource guide to some of the most important changes in the code.

 

Resource Guide to the New Minnesota Food Code

A Food Safety Manager’s Resource Guide to the New Minnesota Food Code Changes

It’s been 20 years since the last revision of the Minnesota Food Code, and we feel a lot of these changes are for the better. Here are some of the top changes that we’ve covered over the past few months:

The first change we’ll highlight is the change to the Certified Food Manager’s title. The Certified Food Manager will now be known as the Certified Food Protection Manager. This change was made in order to clarify the types of business require a CFPM.

Your handwashing stations will now no longer be required to have a nail brush available. The new regulations also outline other changes to handwashing stations including the use or air dryers and required signage.

Sanitation and having a documented plan for certain instances is now required. Going forward, you must have a documented plan for vomit and diarrhea cleanup.

There are new equipment standards in the updated food code that make it easier for food safety managers to choose which equipment to purchase for their kitchen.

Temperature control is a big part of food safety, and the current code now restricts the use of the standard probe thermometer for certain foods in favor of a small-diameter probe.

Speaking of temperatures, you will now be required to monitor the water temperature or your dishwashing machine.

The new code also addresses obtaining wild mushrooms from verified sources. Food safety managers must now source their mushrooms from registered providers.

The writers of the food code have taken the time to address certain unique situations. New sections have been added to code to include regulations for non-continuous cooking, reusable takeout containers and food preparation for susceptible groups.

Go ahead and bookmark this page for quick reference whenever you need it. At Safe Food Training, we’ll continue to update any new changes and how they affect food safety managers in Minnesota.

New MN Food Code Guide to Serving Highly-Susceptible Groups

New MN Food Code Guide to Serving Highly-Susceptible Groups

/0 Comments/in /by

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.

New MN Food Code Guide to Serving Highly-Susceptible Groups

Image credit: U.S. Department of Agriculture via Wikimedia Commons

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?