Food Safety Certification MN Archives

July 11, 2017July 7, 2017

ServSafe Food Manager and Allergy Education

Allergy Action Plans and the ServSafe Food Manager

As a ServSafe Food Manager it’s important that the staff be familiar with your allergy action plan. While most food service workers know about food allergies and feel they can accommodate customers with allergies who visit their establishment, educational gaps occur in some facilities concerning how allergies work and what to do in an emergency situation. The CDC recently conducted a study seeking to find how much restaurant staff actually knew about the topic and came up with some interesting findings.

Allergy Action Plans and the ServSafe Food Manager

One illuminating fact this study shows is that allergies are more common than many ServSafe food managers realize. One in 13 children suffers from some form of food allergy, while one in 25 adults must avoid certain foods. The severity of reaction varies from person to person, but some react by coming into contact with allergens without even ingesting the ingredient.

Since some of these reactions cause severe distress, and possibly death if emergency help does not arrive in time, having a plan in place prepares your staff to deal with guests with allergies. Some things you should teach your employees include:

What common allergens exist in your facility
Some customers cannot consume even small amount of certain items
How to react if a guest has a reaction

Knowledge helps keep your guests safe. Some of your patrons will not be able to consume common items such as nuts, dairy or shellfish. Teaching your cooks and service staff how these ingredients are used can help steer guests away from certain dishes.

If a guest has a reaction, get help immediately. Some reactions happen from minor contact and should not be waited out to see if the guest recovers. Call 911, and if a guest wears an allergy alert bracelet relay that information so that emergency responders can be prepared.

Integrate allergy training to make sure your staff feels confident in serving diners with allergies. Some outlets nominate one or two employees, one of them their designated ServSafe food manager, to receive extra training and pass that knowledge on to staff members and personally handle guests questions about allergens on the menu.

Do you have an allergy action plan? If so, feel free to share in the comment section below.

May 30, 2017May 14, 2017

The Purpose of Food Safety Certification Exams

Whether in person or online, we’ve proctored thousands of food safety certification exams and occasionally we have a student raise their hand at a key point and ask: “Will this be on the test?” That’s not a question we can answer, because honestly, the instructors don’t know what will be on the test. This gives us the opportunity to teach our students how to be the best certified food managers they can be.

Food Safety Certification Exams Preparation’s Ultimate Goal

While it’s required for food service supervisors to obtain certifications in order to do their job, our aim isn’t to hand out as many certifications as we can. Our focus will be on giving you the tools to keep your guests safe from food-borne illnesses.

When you enroll in our food safety certification classes, we recommend that you come prepared to absorb the material and be ready to engage with your instructor and classmates. We find that students who’s objective is simply to pass the test tend to overlook important information while searching for bullet points and possible answers. Coming to class relaxed and eager to learn will give you a great opportunity to gain your certificate and benefit you in the long term.

The good news is that our method of teaching you how to keep your food safe rather than coaching you how to pass the exam results in an over 90 percent first-time pass rate. If you review the pre-course material and arrive ready to learn, you should achieve successful results.

A good portion of our success rates comes from student input. After you’ve finished our course, let us know how the material not only helped you become certified, but also how our training has improved how your facility handles food safety.

April 25, 2017April 5, 2017

Food Safety Certified Professionals and Microwave Use

Many restaurants employ a secret weapon that some food safety certified professionals call their digital chef. The digital chef refers to a facility’s microwave, and while most restaurants and food producers prefer to cook everything as fresh as possible, instances occur when microwave cooking becomes unavoidable.

Proper Microwave Use for Food Safety Certified Workers

All food cooked in a microwave needs to maintain an internal temperature of 165 degrees before being served. No food cooked any lower than well-done can be served if cooked in a microwave, and reheated precooked food must meet the 165-degree requirement. Once food reaches the temperature requirement, the Minnesota Food Code states that cooked product needs to stand for two minutes before serving in order to maintain temperature.

The method used for microwave cooking depends on what type of food your digital chef must prepare. The following guide shows specific rules that the food code requires you to adhere to.

Rotate all product must halfway through cooking
Stir liquid foods such as soup periodically to achieve an even temperature
Cover raw product to maintain moisture

When we discuss the thawing of raw proteins in ServeSafe training courses, we recommend that food safety certified professionals use a microwave as a last resort. Any frozen item thawed in a microwave needs to be cooked and served immediately. Product thawed in a microwave cannot be stored for later use.

Microwaves can sometimes be a lifesaver in the kitchen, but every food service worker should be aware of safe procedures to prevent food-borne illness as a result. Do you rely on your digital chef, or do you prefer to cook 100 percent of your product from scratch?

April 18, 2017April 5, 2017

Hand Sanitizer and Safe Food Handling Practices

During online food safety courses, students learn that hand washing prevents the spread of food-borne illness. From time to time, a student asks what role hand sanitizers play in killing bacteria, and if hand sanitizer benefits food service workers.

Safe Food Handling Practices and Hand Sanitizers

The Minnesota Department of Health allows for hand sanitizer use in food production facilities. However, hand sanitizers must not replace proper hand washing in any situation. Effective hand sanitizers kill viruses and bacteria, but only hand washing removes dirt, grime and grease from underneath fingernails or the natural crevices in human skin. Just to review the safe food handling practices, proper hand washing involves:

Washing under hot water
The use of plenty of soap
Scrubbing for at least 20 seconds

If the Department of Health rules state that all food service workers must wash their hands after handling raw meat, using the bathroom or doing anything that contaminates their hands, when can a hand sanitizer be used?

If you feel the need to use a hand sanitizer to kill bacteria, you must wash your hands immediately after use and before handling food. Washing your hands after using a sanitizer will not negate the virus killing effects. In fact, washing your hands removes fragrances and other chemicals that exist in commercially produced hand sanitizers than could make your guests sick.

Finally, the food code allows hand sanitizers in situations where product is not handled by hand. This occurs in retail or grocery situations where food product is sealed or in instances where utensils are the only means of food handling.

The use of hand sanitizers is only one of many concerns that many professionals ask for clarification on food code regulations. If you have any other situations you’d like us to cover, please leave a question in the comments section below.