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Food Safety Management Steps for Starting a New Food Business

Food Safety Management Steps for Starting a New Food Business

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Congratulations! You have your business plan formalized, gained funding and even have a location picked out for your new food business, but just having the finances and space isn’t enough to get started. There are several food safety management procedures you need to take in order to open your doors so the public can enjoy your goods and services. Navigating the new food business landscape can be daunting, so let’s breakdown the steps you’ll need to take to open your doors.

Food Safety Management Steps for Starting a New Food Business
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Navigating Food Safety Management and Opening a New Food Business

There are numerous steps that must be followed in order to open a food business, and your banker should be able to help with the financial side, so let’s look at a quick rundown of what must be done on the food safety management side:

  • Plan on purchasing certified equipment for your establishment
  • Obtain the appropriate license for the Minnesota Department of Health or Department of Agriculture
  • Create a food risk assessment strategy
  • Hire a certified food protection manager
  • Consult frequently with your local health department

Food businesses must have properly certified equipment. Make sure your equipment has been classified for sanitation by an ANSI approved standard. Common standards include NSF, UL and Intertek. Approved equipment will have a valid standard stamp or sticker somewhere on the surface. When in doubt, your equipment supplier should have the appropriate paperwork for your new equipment.

Obtaining a license can be confusing since you may require a license from a specific agency depending on the location and type of food business you plan on opening. The State of Minnesota has a licensing wizard that will point you to the appropriate agency based on your answer to several questions about your food business’ target customer base and distribution methods.

Next it’s important to formulate a written food risk assessment plan. This plan should cover food safety during production, a Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) plan, allergen statements and recall plans. We don’t recommend formulating this on your own, but consulting with the health department that covers your establishment will help you create a detailed and acceptable plan for your new food business.

Before you open your doors or even begin any food preparation, you must employ a certified food protection manager. This can be your executive chef, kitchen manager, floor supervisor or even a hands-on owner. Certified food protection managers must pass an online or in-person certification class and exam, and they’re responsible for ensuring the safety of the food you produce.

Are you contemplating opening a new food business?

Could Food Safety Managers Actually See Novel Foods On Their Menus In The Future

Could Food Safety Managers Actually See Insects On Their Menus In The Future?

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“Waiter! Waiter! There’s no fly in my soup!” is something we never expect a guest to exclaim while dining out, but will food safety managers need to be ready for that in the future? While we find no trend on edible insects in the United States, the EU has recently begun investigating yellow meal worms as a novel food source. While there isn’t any mainstream call to begin serving meal worms in restaurants all across the US or European continent. Novel foods, like meal worms, bring up an interesting question as to where exactly the line is for what food safety science determines will be safe to eat and what’s not.

Could Food Safety Managers Actually See Novel Foods On Their Menus In The Future

Will the Food Safety Industry Embrace Novel Foods?

If we look at the history of edible food, we’ll see ancient cultures considered some foods unacceptable to eat that are common on our plates today while some ate foods we would never think about ordering at a restaurant. Some food historians suggest that unclean or forbidden foods may have become unacceptable due to the illnesses cause by consuming them. Parasites, bacteria and viruses we can control today with proper preparation directed by a certified food safety manager were potentially deadly before food safety science was even a theory.

Other plants and animals have been kept off of plates for centuries because, well, they just seem gross. Who really wants a few crawling mealworms in their salad? But we don’t imagine the first person to see a lobster thought that it might be delicious based on appearance.

According to the study, the novel food, yellow meal worms pose no high-level food safety risks. In fact, the study showed that they’re mainly composed of protein, fat and fiber. All ingredients digestible and usable by the human body.

We’re probably a long way off from seeing insects on our menus, but would you ever consider serving a novel food such as meal worms or other non-traditional ingredient?

Advise for Food Safety Managers re Startling Rise in MN Norovirus Infection Rate

Advice For Food Safety Managers Re Startling Norovirus Rise In MN

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In our daily research on current food safety risks and outbreaks, we came across an article outlining a recent rise in norovirus infections in Minnesota. Norovirus spreads extremely easily and causes vomiting, diarrhea and other stomach issues. Even though it’s easily spread, it’s also easy to combat with simple food safety measures. Let’s take a look at how food safety managers can do their part to help control norovirus spread.

Advise for Food Safety Managers re Startling Rise in MN Norovirus Infection Rate
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Controlling the Norovirus Outbreak in Minnesota

Over the course of the past year, business has been down in the food service sector, but now that things are beginning to open, our restaurants are once again nearing capacity increasing the risk of foodborne illnesses like norovirus. Fortunately, norovirus can be controlled using basic sanitation methods and monitoring employee hygiene. The simplest way to stop the spread of norovirus includes the following simple food safety steps:

The good news is that these norovirus infection issues have been reinforced due to COVID-19 prevention, but as our restaurants begin to get busier and food service workers face more hectic shifts, we cannot become lax with these basic food safety management protocols or we’ll face more foodborne illness outbreaks such as the current rise in norovirus in our state. Remember to take the time to wash your hands often, wear food-service gloves or tongs when handling food and stay home when under the weather.

Have you taken steps to review basic food safety procedures as business begins to pick up?

Food safety training refresher for outdoor events

Really Astonishing Food Safety Training Refresher For Cooking Outdoors

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With summer around the corner, some eating establishments are beginning to plan outdoor events such as barbecues, mobile kitchens and backyard catering, but you should be aware that the health department requires the same food safety training standards whether you’re cooking inside or outside. There are quite a few challenges when taking the kitchen to the great outdoors, so we created a food safety training refresher for your use.

Food Safety Training Refresher For Cooking Outdoors
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Food Safety Training Review for Outdoor Cooking Events

When planning an outdoor event with live cooking stations, you should brush-up your food safety training and make sure that you have the capabilities to follow proper food safety training for:

  • Sanitation
  • Handwashing
  • Temperature control

Since you’re away from your kitchen, you’ll need to take steps to ensure you have an approved sanitizer solution on hand for preparation surfaces and cooking utensils. Not only should you have a bucket of sanitizer solution handy, you should take precautions to refresh your sanitizer solution occasionally. This could be a spare brought from your main facility, or if you’re close enough to your kitchen a replacement could be brought to your outdoor kitchen occasionally.

Another food safety training reminder is setting up an outdoor handwashing station, which is also required if you’re actively cooking and preparing food away from your kitchen. Unlike providing a sanitizer solution, a handwashing station will take a little bit more of an investment. Simply sanitizing hands or wearing gloves will not effectively prevent the transmission of foodborne pathogens from handling raw ingredients. There are a few styles of mobile handwashing stations available, so contact your equipment supplier to find one that is best suited for your setup.

Finally, cold foods will need to be kept cold and hot foods will need to be kept hot. If you’re cooking proteins such as hamburgers, chicken or bratwurst, they must be kept cold until they hit the grill. Make sure that you have a cooler box or ice bath that can maintain a temperature below 41-degrees or have a supply of fresh product brought out to your cooking stations periodically.

Are you planning on setting up an outdoor kitchen to attract customers this summer? Have you scheduled a food safety training refresher for your staff?