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How to Become Food Safety Certified in MN

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In a recent article, we covered what types of businesses need to be aware of food manager certification rules in Minnesota. If you have opened a new food business or read our blog and discovered that you need to have an employee certified, we’re ready to let you know how to go about the process of being compliant with state regulations.

MN Food Safety Certified

How to Become Food Safety Certified

You first need to decide which employee to designate as your food manager. You should select your kitchen manager, head chef or floor manager. Whoever you choose, they must be a full-time employee who controls food preparation at your outlet.

You must next select which certification your manager will obtain. The state of Minnesota accepts the following courses:

    • ServSafe
    • Certified Food Safety Manager
    • Certified Professional Food Manager
    • Learn2Serve Food Protection Manager

Before signing up for any classes or certification exams, check with the owner of your business to see if they require specific training courses. Many national and regional chains restrict which certifications they like their managers to obtain.

Many of these classes and food safety certification exams can be taken online or in instructor-led sessions. While online classes offer convenience, in-person training gives students the opportunity to engage with an instructor and have questions answered right away.

Finally, apply for the correct paperwork with the health department. It is not enough to pass an online food manager certificate exam. You must apply for certification with the state. The Minnesota Department of Health provides access to these applications online.

Once you receive your certification from the proper authorities, you must post it in a visible and easily accessible location.

Whether you are a first time manager or you need to renew your food manager certification, we can help provide the proper class for any jurisdiction in Minnesota. If you have any questions about certification that we did not cover or would like to know how to become food safety certified, please visit our homepage for more information.

How Food Safety Certified Professionals Can Survive Valentines Day

Valentine’s Day Survival for Food Safety Certified Professionals

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Valentine’s Day is one of the most important holidays on the food service calendar for food safety certified professionals. Reservation sheets are full, chefs have the opportunity to show off their most creative specials and each member on staff prepares to be at the top of their game to impress each couple that walks through the doors. This can be a fun day, but it is also one that puts a lot of stress on team members and can be physically and mentally draining.

How Food Safety Certified Professionals Can Survive Valentine’s Day

Survival on the busiest of days means preparing for the night ahead. Having your prep stations fully stocked, your menu tried and tested and each server trained on their duties will help smooth out Valentine’s Day dinner service. We’ve heard that many busy restaurants sample out their special menus to their service staff so they not only know how to describe each dish, but know how it tastes. This will help them fully answer any guest’s questions about your restaurant’s cuisine. This will also save valuable time if the server does not have to retreat to the kitchen to get menu clarification before taking a guest’s order.

Having your line well stocked will also relieve stress in the kitchen. Nothing bogs down service like prepping on the fly with a full dining room. If your prep cooks and line cooks know exactly how much of each item that is required, they can sail through service with little issue.

One thing that helps keep stress levels low and frustration at a minimum is taking care of your staff’s health. Recommend a limit on caffeinated beverages. Caffeine raises blood pressure and can lead to short tempers if not kept in check. Adding a few extra water breaks into the schedule will keep your team hydrated and productive.

Finally, leaving early can sap your team’s morale. We know food safety certified professionals work as hard as anybody, but if you stick around to help your team clean up at the end of the night, it will keep their spirits high and earn you big time points with your line cooks and dish washing staff. This can do nothing but pay off in the long run.

Valentine’s Day ranks up there as one of the days when restaurants put on their best show. Are there any other special holidays where you strive to put on your best performance?

Norovirus and Online ServSafe Training

Norovirus and Online ServSafe Training

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The Norovirus is covered thoroughly in online ServSafe training, it sickens more people each year than any other food-borne illness cause. Since this virus mainly spreads through contact with an infected food worker rather than a natural occurrence in food product, there are numerous challenges in preventing it from contaminating prepared food product.

Norovirus and Online ServSafe Training

Image credit: by Debs (ò?ó)? via Flickr

Online ServSafe Training Guide to the Norovirus

The most common source of the Norovirus comes from human contact or the failure to properly sanitize work stations after use. The usual ways that this pathogen comes into contact with food includes:

  • Contact with microscopic traces of infected blood, vomit, or other bodily excretion
  • Contact with contaminated surfaces
  • Contact with saliva or unwashed hands of an infected person

There are two lessons that are covered in our online training that should be apparent from looking at these regular causes of the Norovirus. First, do not work while sick. The chances of spreading the Norovirus increase when ill workers handle food product. The possibility also exists that your staff could still spread the virus after symptoms have dissipated. The Norovirus hangs around in the infected people’s blood and digestive systems for a few days after they have appeared to have recovered, so it may be necessary to take a few extra sick days after contracting this illness.

The second important lesson to learn is one that should be practiced even if there is little chance of spreading the Norovirus. Hand washing must be done diligently and properly after using the restroom, eating, smoking or participating in any activity that causes you to touch your mouth or other unsanitary areas of your body. Steps also should be taken to see that there is no barehanded contact with food product. Make sure that you have plenty of utensils and food-service gloves available so that potentially infected hands stay away from your product.

While the main causes of Norovirus poisoning come from human contamination, our online ServSafe guide would be incomplete if we did not mention potential hazards in food before it reaches your facility. There is a chance that an infected farmer or other worker could handle raw fruits and vegetables before they reach your business. In this case, you must make sure that all raw produce is properly washed and stored. Shellfish can also naturally absorb the Norovirus from the water that they are harvested from, especially in the warmer months of the year. Shellfish should be prepared properly and care should be taken to reduce the risk of cross-contamination with other food product.

Certified Food Managers and Customer Rewards

Certified Food Managers and Customer Rewards

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Repeat customers keep restaurants and other food producers in business. During a break at one of our certified food manager exam sessions, we engaged in an interesting conversation with the supervisor at a small restaurant about the challenges of utilizing a customer reward program similar to the ones that larger companies use.  We thought that it would be interesting to explore some options that smaller companies have to give their returning guests a little something extra.

Certified Food Managers and Customer Rewards

 

Certified Food Managers and Customer Loyalty Programs

There are definitely some difficulties involved when trying to compete with major franchises customer loyalty programs. The biggest obstacle being that big corporations have the infrastructure, the manpower and the finances to hire employees dedicated to the process of keeping customers returning to their stores and restaurants. Small business owners have no need to despair, however, there are numerous things that they can do to keep guests coming back.

A small business’ biggest advantage over large corporations is a familiarity factor. Many times regular guests and business owners know each other by name, and having a smaller staff allows your customers and employees to create a relationship based on seeing a familiar face each time they visit your restaurant. Training your employees to recognize returning guests and learn their names can go a long ways towards keeping them coming back as opposed to a loyalty card and the lack of being recognized when they visit large franchises.

Just because your guests know who you are and are greeted personally by staff each time they visit does not mean that you cannot give them something extra for frequenting your establishment.  We’ve come up with a few ideas that can reward your regular customers for their business:

  • Punch cards
  • Free item on birthdays and holidays
  • Coupons only available to members of an e-mail club
  • Discounts on certain menu items for frequent guests

These are just a few suggestions, and you can get as creative as possible to make it fun for guests to return. Customers spend their money in restaurants that treat them right, but with so many great restaurants in our state it sometimes takes something a little extra to draw them back time and time again. Do you have any special programs for your regular guests?