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future food safety

How Cold Plasma Technology Will Impact Future Food Safety

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Our food safety training sessions in Minnesota focus on preventing foodborne illnesses caused by harmful bacteria. Wash fruits and vegetables thoroughly, handle animal proteins carefully, and follow cooking temperature guidelines for food safety. Even with these precautions, people are becoming more concerned about future food safety because of news reports about outbreaks from contaminated food.

Future food Safety
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How Future Technology May Change Food Safety

Major food processors are taking extra steps to prevent bacteria like Listeria from contaminating their products to ensure future food safety. They do this by adding chemical compounds that can slow or kill the growth of harmful bacteria. While the FDA has approved these additives, recent research suggests they may carry health risks. If you look at the ingredients in most pre-packaged foods, you’ll often find many chemical compounds with long, hard-to-pronounce names.

We know this topic is a bit outside our food safety certification focus, but we sometimes highlight emerging technologies for food preservation. Cold plasma is a novel food processing technology that inactivates harmful bacteria, viruses, parasites, and fungi. High-voltage electricity used to ionize air or specific gas blends generates ions, free electrons, ozone, and other reactive products. This process, effective at room temperature, has been tested on various foods, including fruits, vegetables, meats, cheeses, and nuts.

Cold plasma effectively kills germs like Salmonella, E. coli, Listeria monocytogenes, norovirus, and Cryptosporidium, as well as other harmful pathogens found in food. Many studies have examined how it works on different foods, surfaces that touch food, packaging materials, and other areas important for food safety.

The relevant regulatory authorities must comprehensively review all new food processing technologies, including cold plasma. This must be done for each commodity across various national and international jurisdictions. Regulators in the US are currently examining research developments related to cold plasma. However, they have not yet approved its use as a food safety process.

Additives have been a hot-button issue for some time and we will continue to look for future food safety innovations that may improve how our food is produced. Feel free to leave your thoughts on this issue in the comment section below.

prevent Food-Borne Disease at Your Easter Egg Hunt

Easter Is Looming- Easy Tips To Prevent Food-borne Illness

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Although the weather in the Midwest may feel like winter again, springtime has arrived, according to the calendar. This also means that Easter is fast approaching. While the Easter Bunny is busy taking an online course to become a certified food protection manager, we would like to provide you with some helpful tips to ensure the safety of your guests and avoid any food-borne illness outbreaks during your event.

Keeping Your Easter Festivities Safe from Food-Borne Illness

Easy Tips To Prevent Food-borne Illness
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The annual Easter egg hunt is one of the most exciting Easter events for the youngest enjoying the festivities. Just seeing a field full of brightly colored plastic eggs filled with candy and prizes makes every single youngster’s eyes widen with anticipation. With so many different hunts happening all across the world, the Easter Bunny is going to need some help setting them up. It is important to individually wrap every candy packed into plastic eggs to prevent the spread of food-borne illness.

Managing Outdoor Buffets And Food Stands

Serving food away from your main kitchen is common during spring and Easter events. However, it is important to remember that Minnesota’s standard food safety rules still apply even in such cases. Moreover, additional precautions and obtaining special permits may be necessary. If your restaurant or food preparation facility plans to set up a booth at an Easter festival or offer samples at a spring parade, it is advisable to consult with your local health department to determine if any special permits are necessary.

Another popular Easter tradition is attending brunch after morning church services. These brunches and buffets can attract an incredible number of guests, so it may be wise to refer back to your food manager training when planning your food production to prevent food-borne illnesses and ensure that every item you serve is safe for your guests.

Even though Easter can be a hectic time for food-service professionals, it is also a time to remember family and tradition. Outside of coordinating work events, what is your favorite Easter event or tradition now, or what special event does your family associate with the season?

Happy Easter/Passover!

Food Product Recall Widget For Certified Food Protection Managers

A New Look At Food Product Recalls for Certified Food Protection Managers

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In the very first “Safe Food for Thought”, a blog for certified food protection managers, published on October 30, 2015, we discussed the importance of keeping up to date on food product recalls. As part of that new platform, we included a US foodsafety.gov fed streaming Food recall alert. This feature provides real-time notices of recalls and public health alerts from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which are listed in the widget 24/7.

You no longer have to lose sleep worrying about serving contaminated food supplied by a manufacturer. Instead, quickly check the widget on our blog once daily to ensure your supplies are safe.

Food Product Recall Widget For Certified Food Protection Managers

On full screen, you will see the Food Safety Recall widget on the right side of our blog page. A slide bar on the right allows you to scroll down to see recalls past recalls. If you find a recall that concerns you, click on it, and you’ll get detailed information. (You must scroll past the most recent blogs on your mobile to find the widget.)

Indeed, paying attention to product recalls is crucial, but it’s equally important to know what constitutes a recalled item. Food product recalls are incredibly specific. Questionable products in your inventory must have all of these details:

  • Same brand
  • Product name
  • Use-by or freeze-by date
  • Establishment number
  • And more.

If you’re unsure, your certified food protection manager can always contact the manufacturer with your information and ask if they recalled the food product.

If the product details match, please follow these steps:

  • Do not open or consume the product!
  • Contact your supplier to return the product or dispose of it according to the instructions in the recall notice. This is vital as it ensures no one else could pick it up and consume it.

By all means, keep yourself and those around you safe by staying informed on recalls and taking proper actions when necessary.

How often do you actively check your inventory products for recalls?

ServSafe MN Tips for A Bacteria Free Steamer

ServSafe MN Tips for A Bacteria Free Steamer

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The industrial steamer has become a vital tool in many kitchens. It streamlines production and takes the place of makeshift steamer pans on your range or flat-top grill. There are risks, however, in taking this key piece of equipment for granted. Food-borne illness can arise as a result of lack of maintenance. We will introduce some ServSafe MN tips to keep your steamer safe from harmful bacteria.

ServSafe MN Tips for A Bacteria Free Steamer

Image credit: Photo credit: www.foodservicewarehouse.com

ServSafe MN Guide to a Safe Steamer

Cleanliness plays a crucial role in maintaining the safety of the food that is prepared and reheated in your steamer. Since the steamer uses moisture and heat to cook food without drying it out, it can create a breeding ground for bacteria. Bacteria thrive and multiply in a moist and warm environment. The temperatures inside the steamer stay in the danger zone when it’s not in use.

We want to ensure that you don’t have to constantly worry about the possibility of contamination in your steamed food. To prevent harmful bacteria from contaminating your food, we have some simple tips to share with you.

  • Wipe up spills immediately
  • Clean door seals daily
  • Change the water frequently if you have a connectionless or countertop steamer model

Cleanliness maintains the safety of the food prepared and reheated in your steamer. Since the steamer uses moisture and heat to cook food without drying it out, it can create a breeding ground for bacteria. Bacteria thrive and multiply in a moist and warm environment. The temperatures inside the steamer stay in the danger zone when it’s not in use.

We want to ensure that you don’t have to constantly worry about the possibility of contamination in your steamed food. To prevent harmful bacteria from contaminating your food, we have some simple tips to share with you.

You may be cooking the same thing time and time again, but those spills can find their way into the drainage and steam circulation systems. It’s much easier to clean that up before food remnants find places to hide and begin cultivating potential contaminates.

Another frequent hiding place for bacteria lies in the seals of the steamer door. To prevent contaminating particles from festering, it’s important to wipe down and sanitize these on a daily basis.

Steamers Not Connected to Your Water System

Our third item applies to steamers that are not connected to your facility’s water system. Table top models with water drawers take a little more care when it comes to daily maintenance. Your staff must frequently check the water levels and change the water supply regularly to prevent the formation of bacteria in the reserve tank.

There are also a few ServSafe MN concerns that you should be aware of when using an industrial steamer. We will fully cover that issue in few weeks, when our blog will be discussing burn and scald prevention, as well as how to respond to burn accidents when they occur.

Every MN food manager’s approach to their equipment is different. At Safe Food Training, we’d like to know how you use the steamer in your facility. Is it an essential part of your operation, or is it something that is rarely used?