Certified Food Protection Manager Archives

June 29, 2020June 8, 2020

Reservation Tips for Certified Food Protection Managers During COVID-19

As part of the reopening plan for Minnesota restaurants, Governor Tim Walz’s guidelines require restaurants to take reservations for all guests who wish to sit down and dine at your eatery. This can cause confusion and some challenges for certified food protection managers at establishments that don’t normally rely on reservations to know when guests are coming. We’d like to give you a few tips and outline a few procedures you can put into place to ensure you’re following the guidelines and providing a smooth dining experience for guests and staff.

Certified Food Protection Managers and Reservation Guidelines

We know that table seating will be limited during the phased reopening of Minnesota’s restaurants. During these phases of limited seating, reservations will be required, and that could actually help restaurants follow other guidelines as well as control the flow of business in their restaurant. Let’s take a look at some things you may wish to consider when planning a strategy for taking reservations:

Personally touch base with guests who leave messages
Take orders when reservations are placed
Provide a time limit for table occupation
Make sure your contact details are available to the public

It’s important to confirm reservations with guests who request a reservation either via phone message or e-mail. With limited seating available, this can prevent a table from being double booked. The reservation guideline has been put into place so certified food protection managers can avoid the unnecessary gathering of groups of unrelated guests, and overbooking your establishment could create a scenario where social distancing in waiting areas cannot be enforced.

Taking orders, or a partial order, when reservations are made can help speed up service. Since you have a small amount of serving options available, you may have a limited time in which to serve guests before the next reservation arrives. If you know what your guests will be ordering in advance, you can begin preparing meals once they are seated. You may also wish to have an end time for reservations. You know your restaurant best, so create a time limit that doesn’t rush your guests but provides adequate time to sanitize and prepare the table for the next reservation.

Finally, provide a way for guests to find you. Make sure that your Google Business listing is up to date and all information on dining apps and popular websites is accurate.

June 8, 2020June 9, 2020

Certified Food Protection Manager’s Guide to Stay Safe MN Phase 3

Certified Food Protection Manager Stay Safe MN

Starting June 10, Minnesota restaurants are approved to begin allowing guests inside their dining rooms as part of phase three of the governor’s Stay Safe MN plan. As we turn the safety dial another step towards a full reopening, let’s take a quick look at how these new Stay Safe MN rules will affect local certified food protection managers.

Certified Food Protection Manager's Guide to Stay Safe MN Phase 3

Certified Food Protection Managers and Phase Three of the Stay Safe MN Plan for Restaurants

In phase two, eateries were allowed to open, but only for outdoor seating and take-out. Under phase three, we can once again allow guests into our dining rooms with the following stipulations:

Reservations Required
50-Percent Occupancy
Social Distancing Enforced
Employees Must Wear Masks

Many of the Stay Safe MN rules regarding food service staff in phase two still apply during phase three. Employees are required to wear masks and encourage guests to wear them when not eating. Tables must be social distanced. This can be achieved by removing tables from the dining room floor in order to create at least a six-foot buffer zone between tables. If you have the ability, it may be advised to stretch that buffer to allow guests to move to and from the bathroom and exits without coming into contact with other guests.

Reservations will also still be required. This helps prevent wait times where unrelated guests may be forced to mingle in waiting areas where social distancing may not be possible. We recommend spacing out your reservation times to allow guests plenty of time to enjoy their meal without being rushed in order for your establishment to cover the next reservation.

The biggest new regulation is that your establishment must operate at 50-percent capacity or under. Remember, this includes staff so certified food protection managers must take that into account when taking reservations during Stay Safe MN Phase 3. Tables should still seat only four guests unless they are from the same household, then a reservation can be taken for up to six diners.

Are you ready to entertain guests under phase three guidelines?

May 25, 2020May 11, 2020

COVID-19 and ServSafe Sanitation

Waiter demonstrating Servsafe sanitation post COVD-19 shutdown

The coronavirus pandemic has changed the way foodservice businesses operate and will continue to change food safety procedures for the foreseeable future. Once eating establishments are finally permitted to seat guests in their dining rooms, ServSafe food managers will have to change their sanitation procedures and the way they enforce certain food handling rules after the COVID-19 shutdown. This week, we’d like to take a look at what these new sanitation procedures could look like.

ServSafe sanitation post COVID-19 shutdown

Post COVID-19 Shutdown ServSafe Sanitation Guide for Restaurant Reopening

At this time, there is no recommendation to deviate from the types of sanitizer solutions recommended in Minnesota Food Code sanitation procedures, so it’s not necessary to increase the concentration of bleach, iodine or quaternary ammonia compounds in sanitizing solutions. In fact, using a solution with higher concentrations than recommended could pose a health risk to staff and guests should excess sanitizer chemicals end up in customers’ food or create a toxic atmosphere when working in close contact with these over-powered solutions.

Whether you’re open for business as usual or your establishment is still only providing takeout service, it’s important to sanitize all surfaces regularly. The most touched surfaces should be sanitized many times a day. Make sure these frequently used surfaces are sanitized often:

Countertops
Door knobs and handles
Guest tables
Chair backs and high chairs
Handrails

Once we return to in-house service, we’ll have to consider many more items for sanitation to help stop a resurgence of the COVID-19 virus. While every establishment will be different, we’ve come up with a few items that aren’t normally sanitized that you may wish to include in your ServSafe sanitation training:

Credit cardholders
Touchscreens in ordering kiosks, tablets and wait stations
Pens used by customers to sign credit card receipts
Seatbacks and chair arms
Light switches
Soap dispensers
Other implements that may be handled or breathed on by staff or customers

We must also remember that out of the way areas should be sanitized regularly as well. Some locations may not need hourly cleaning, but regular sanitation should occur everywhere in your facility. Think of surfaces such as doors, equipment such as mixers, exteriors of refrigeration units and any other surface than may not be touched too often, but still potentially come into contact with the breath of employees and customers.

It may seem overboard to some, but ServSafe sanitation will have to take on a higher level of vigilance in the coming days once we begin to reopen our restaurants. What steps will you be taking to help prevent a resurgence of COVID-19?

May 12, 2020May 11, 2020

COVID-19 Resources for CFPMs

Many small businesses across the country have been hit hard by measures put into place to slow the COVID-19 outbreak, but restaurants, in particular, have taken a huge financial hit since social distancing protocols have been enacted. If you’re a small-business restaurant owner or the certified food protection manager(CFPMs ) of a small to medium sized establishment, you should familiarize yourself with some COVID-19 related resources that can help your business survive until it’s time to open up for more than just takeout service.

COVID-19 Resources for CFPMs-SBA Payment Protection Plan — *Image credit: shealah_craighead via Flickr*

COVID-19 Related Financial Aids for CFPMs and owners of Small Restaurants

One of the most talked about financial programs for small-businesses is the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The PPP is a loan set up by the U.S. Small Business Association (SBA) to not only help small businesses stay afloat but be able to pay their employees during these hard times. While there are some rules to follow, the SBA may forgive some or all of your loan balance if you keep employees on payroll for eight weeks, use the money to pay utilities, rent, mortgage interest and keep payroll funded.

There are also Non-government COVID-19 related resources for restaurant owners and CFPMs. Several companies that are making it easier, and free, for restaurants to take to-go and delivery orders as well as provide ways for potential customers to know that you’re still open for take-out and delivery.

The Ordering App is waving it’s 1.5% ordering fee until July 1.

Google is offering ad credits for small and medium-sized businesses.

Yelp is offering numerous incentives. They are offering free access to Yelp Reservations and Yelp Waitlist for three months to help smaller restaurants facilitate orders. Yelp is also offering several different options for relief from restaurateurs who either utilize Yelp Ads or are considering doing so during current stay-at-home regulations.

Chowly, a system that streamlines online ordering and POS systems, is waving all set-up fees during the pandemic.

Presto has a program to provide kiosk ordering systems free of charge. These range from tablets to table-top ordering systems and can reduce direct contact with customers ordering takeout at your facility.

Finally, the National Restaurant Association has started the Restaurant Employee Relief Fund. If you’re a certified food protection manager who has been forced to reduce employee hours or in drastic cases furlough some of your staff, you may want to point staff members who have been financially impacted to this fund. Rather than providing support to businesses, the RERF is focused on the individual hospitality workers who have sustained financial hardships.

Are there any other COVID-19 relief programs for CFPMs you think we should share with other readers?