Food Manager Certification Training Archives

August 25, 2024August 25, 2024

The Most Astonishing Food Manager Debate About Meal Benefits

One of the perks of working in the food industry is being around creative professionals. This often means occasionally sampling some of the great cuisines your restaurant has to offer. Many restaurants offer their employees free or discounted shift meals, while others prefer employees to bring in their meals. We want to examine three different schools of thought on meal benefits we’ve heard discussed in our food manager certification courses.

Food managers enjoy their inhouse meal benefit — *Image credit: jackf via 123rf*

Food Manager Debate Shift Meal Benefit

When it comes to providing employee meal benefits in the restaurant industry, kitchen food managers have several options. Here are what we have found to be the top three prevailing systems:

Employees should be on their own and eat at specified breaks
Employees can order menu items at a discount
A special employee meal is served before or after service

One idea we hear from time to time is that restaurant professionals should be treated like professionals from other industries. Why should a restaurant owner use their profits to offer free meals to employees that are not typically available in other professions? Especially when they already provide all the standard benefits associated with different jobs? The downside of this option is that many restaurants choose to provide meals or discounted menu items for their employees. We’ve heard that this system may reduce employee morale when staff members compare the no-meal policy with other restaurants’ treatment.

Some outlets allow employees to order off the menu at a discount when they are off the clock. This allows the staff members to eat at a reasonable price and sample the cuisine served at their workplace. Restaurant managers often choose this meal perk to find a middle ground between making employees pay for their meals and providing a complimentary shift meal.

The Safe Food Training Favorite

Our top choice is the family-style staff meal served before or after shift hours. This brings employees together and may be a great time to test specials and explore new menu concepts. If you choose this method of providing meals for your employees, keep in mind that it could also offer the opportunity to reduce waste by repurposing some of your inventory surplus. We also find that a well-fed employee tends to be a satisfied employee.

If you’re a restaurant owner or food manager, we’d like your thoughts on meal benefits. Please feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments section.

August 5, 2024August 12, 2024

Food Sampling Procedures You Need To Know In Food Manager Training

Tasting According to Food Manager Certification MN Training

We discuss product sampling in depth at Safe Food Training during food manager certification MN training. To consistently deliver high-quality food to your guests, it is crucial to taste or sample every dish, sauce, or prepared product to ensure that it meets your high standards. We must emphasize the importance of following the correct procedures when sampling your food product.

Food Sampling According to Food Manager Certification MN Training

Food Sampling According to Food Manager Certification Training

Food on the line must be tasted numerous times per shift to ensure each guest receives a quality meal. It is important to understand that something as simple as tasting can create a food risk. There are a few things that you should never do when tasting your cuisine in the kitchen.

Never use your fingers
Never double-dip a tasting spoon
Never use a stirring spoon to taste
Never lean over a pan or plate while tasting

This ” don’ts” list should be self-explanatory to the experienced food service worker. Touching a guest’s food with a bare hand, reusing a tasting spoon, and creating a scenario where food can drip from your mouth into a prepared product generate the potential for contamination. If you’re a food manager, you need to make sure your staff clearly understands the right and wrong way to taste the food they produce and give them the tools to do it safely.

Sampling Spoon Accessibility

To comply with the MN food code, we recommend that food managers supply your staff with ample food-tasting spoons stored above the food production line. Store them in a clean container to prevent contact with food or potential contaminants before use. Many restaurant workers store tasting spoons in their jacket or apron pockets to be close at hand when needed. We recommend that you train your employees not to store tasting spoons in their pockets. They risk coming into contact with food product or bare hands, and an increased potential of cross-contamination can result.

If you’re preparing a sample of a daily special or new menu food item, your staff should taste it away from the production area. This practice falls under the category of eating in the kitchen in the Minnesota Health Code. The food protection manager should move this process away from the production line.

November 7, 2022November 3, 2022

It’s Here- Proven Online Food Manager’s Training Guide To Hand Drying

Food safety training is pretty specific on how handwashing should be done, it’s one of the most effective weapons we have to prevent foodborne illness, yet many food managers are unaware of the options when it comes to appropriate drying implements. Since you may not be aware of all the alternatives, let’s talk about the appropriate food manager’s training on ways to dry your hands after washing them.

Food Manager’s Training for Drying Tools after Hand Washing

The standard food manager’s training tool for hand drying is a simple paper towel dispenser. These are generally the most common due to their ease of use and cost effectiveness, but there are a few alternatives that meet health code requirements and may serve your handwashing stations better. Other approved methods include:

Powered air dryers
A continuous towel system

Some food managers may wish to look into one of these two options as there is less waste than paper towels, and each of these options don’t require as much product to remain operational. With paper towel dispensers, there’s always the need to order paper towels and a good portion of these towels may not go towards their intended purpose.

Another food manager’s training option for hand drying, a powered air dryer. It can be cost effective after the initial investment. Once set up, you simply need to keep the power on for it to do its job. There may be a filter to change occasionally, but other than that no product is needed week in and week out. The one draw back to the air dryer is that they can be powerful enough to blow water droplets onto items in the nearby vicinity, so they are best used away from preparation and storage areas.

A continuous towel system consists of a long towel on a roll that has a clean portion pulled out with each use while soiled portions are spooled inside the housing. This system creates less waste, but the towel must be washed and replaced once it reaches the end of the roll. A continuous towel system also runs the risk of having multiple staff members dry their hands on the same portion if it is not rotated correctly.

Food manager’s training also recommends preventing as much contact with surfaces during the hand washing/ hand drying process. Motion sensor activated paper towel dispensers and blow dryers offer a decreased chance of contaminating hands between washing and drying

What type of drying system do you use in your facility

August 22, 2022August 19, 2022

Sure Fire Tips for Taking the Certified Food Manager Exam after Taking the Online Course

We’ve seen an uptick in certified food protection manager ( CFPM ) candidates taking the online food safety course due to its convenience. Every so often, we receive a call or an email asking how to access the online certified food manager exam so that it can be taken from home. As per Minnesota CFPM rules, the certification exam must be taken in a supervised environment to ensure that the test is monitored properly. While most certified food managers would never cheat, this also allows for an appropriate supervisor to be present should there be an issue with the test. Since the certified food manager exam setting is different than the online class, it’s important to prepare for the examination a little differently to ensure the best results.

Preparing for the Certified Food Manager Exam After Taking the Online Class

We have a few simple tips for taking the certified food manager exam:

Schedule the exam as soon as possible
Take notes during the online food management course
Be punctual on exam day

If you’re taking the instructor-led version of the food manager course, the exam generally follows that same day. This is not true with online food safety courses; you must schedule an in-person examination. Keeping that in mind, try to take the exam at the closest possible date shortly after finishing the course. This will keep the information fresh and keep your confidence high.

While taking the course, be sure to take detailed notes that you can review later. This will help refresh your memory after some time has elapsed since the training.

Finally, be on time for the certified food manager exam. Plan your route ahead of time and leave enough leeway in the event of travel difficulties. If you run late, you may miss valuable test-taking time. It’s also been suggested that lateness may increase anxiety as you’re worried about showing up before the test starts. This worry may bleed over into your efforts to do well on the test.

Do you prefer taking the certified food manager exam immediately after an instructor-led course or scheduling it as soon as possible after the online course?