food safety training Archives

April 19, 2021April 19, 2021

Important Food Safety Training for Off-Site Catering

The food and beverage industry has suffered greatly over the past year, but the catering industry has taken a substantial hit due to the limits on social gatherings. Now that the StaySafe MN guidance is beginning to allow more participants at social events, the demand for catering services is beginning to increase. With the pressure to maintain COVID-19 prevention protocols and adhere to food safety training in order to keep guests safe at catered events, it may be useful to take a look at the safe way to cater an off-site event.

Food Safety Training for Remote Catering Events

Coronavirus occupancy rules cause the biggest confusion for caterers providing services away from their kitchen. The proprietor of the venue should be accountable for capacity limits, but your catering staff must also be included in the numbers in order to remain in compliance. At the time of writing, there are two capacity standards; indoor and outdoor. Up to 50 attendees can occupy an outdoor event, while indoor events are limited to 15. This means that you may be required to limit the staff on hand in order for the venue to meet these numbers. When planning a catering event, make sure that you consult current StaySafeMN guidelines and coordinate with the venue to ensure you can adequately schedule your staff.

Besides COVID protocols, caterers must follow proper catering food safety guidelines. Many of these guidelines line up with what you’ve learned during food safety training. All food at catered events must:

Be cooked to proper temperatures
Be held according to time and temperature control rules
Come from appropriate sources
Be held and transported in a manner that prevents cross contamination

Time and temperature control go a long way to preventing a foodborne illness outbreak, so make sure that you check your equipment to make sure it is capable of keeping hot foods hot and cold foods cold. Also, take the time to check the internal temperature of all cooked foods to verify they’ve been cooked properly.

There may be times when an off-site catering client suggests they will supply the food product for the event as a cost-saving measure. Unfortunately, you may not be able to verify whether or not they are purchasing ingredients from an approved source. We suggest working with catering clients to purchase all ingredients from your normal suppliers.

Do you have a catering business that’s finally starting to see more clients? Have you taken time to refresh your staff food safety training for off-site catering?

June 18, 2018June 5, 2018

What Are The Duties Of A MN Certified Food Manager?

Whether you have the title of kitchen manager, executive chef or food and beverage supervisor, we know that you have a myriad of duties that require your constant attention. You write budgets, calculate food costs, hire staff and train employees. On top of that, are the duties of a MN certified food manager. The state has outlined very specific responsibilities that help you keep the food you serve safe.

On the Job Duties of a MN Certified Food Manager

Once you complete training and gain your food manager certificate, the Minnesota Department of Health requires you to perform the following duties:

Identify food safety hazards in your facility
Implement procedures to prevent food-borne illness
Perform food safety training and insure a person in charge (PIC) is present when food is prepared
Monitor food preparation and take action to correct procedures to protect the public from food-borne illness
Conduct inspections to ensure proper food handling occurs during regular operations

As a MN certified food manager, your obligations go beyond the day-to-day operations of your business, and you must keep the food your operation serves safe. Identification of hazards is your first step towards food safety, but you must act on your observations. Nearly every one of the requirements for food managers can be seen as a reaction to the hazards that you have identified.

Proper implementation of procedures goes a long way to preventing the spread of food-borne illness. The key to effective food-safety protocols include training, monitoring and a keeping written track record for reference. It does no good to simply train one or two employees and let your procedures spread from there. Take the time to train your entire staff on proper food-handling techniques, especially those that might be unique to your establishment and the type of product you serve or sell.

Finally, you must follow up on your identification and procedure implementation by monitoring day-to-day operations to ensure procedures are followed properly. Conducting periodic self-inspections of your facility is also a great tool to monitor how food is handled. Be thorough when you conduct your self-inspection. Act as if you were your local health inspector and check every aspect of your facility. Conduct a verbal review with your employees and make sure that any potential hazards are being dealt with properly.

Do you have any tips for keeping track of your duties of a MN certified food manager?

February 24, 2016February 24, 2016

Balancing a MN Certified Food Manager Career and Personal Life

Balancing a CFPM Career and Personal Life

The life of a MN certified food manager can be a stressful and time consuming one. This becomes more evident and taxing around holidays like Valentine’s Day when a multitude of happy couples flood their favorite restaurants and food service workers put in long hours making sure every guest has the best experience possible. We’ve often heard it said that restaurant management is a single person’s game, but we feel that you should be able to enjoy your career and have a life beyond the kitchen.

Balancing a Career as a MN Certified Food Manager and a Personal Life

A quick Google search on divorce rates in the food industry will reveal that bartenders, chefs and restaurant managers all rank in the 25 worse professions for relationships according to numerous sources. While we offer food safety training not couples counseling, we do engage in conversations during breaks from classes and after testing sessions. We feel that there should be a chance for both a successful career and a healthy relationship, and we have a few ideas that have been shared by some professionals that we have talked to who have been able to achieve a successful balance.

Go out of your way to make time for a personal life outside of work
Trust your staff to get the job done in your absence.
Choose non-peak dates for special occasions

It may sound impossible, but if you want to keep a healthy balance in your professional and personal life, you must make time for both. Hearing stories of an 80-hour work weeks makes us cringe. If you’re looking for ways to trim your hours so that you can spend more time at home, you may want to rely on your staff to take on some extra responsibilities. If you’ve trained your employees well, you should have no problem trusting them to handle more responsibilities in your absence. Train your sous chef to take on some ordering or inventory duties, count on an assistant manager to help with scheduling or train a trusted employee to receive and stock your weekly supplies.

For our last tip, we’d like to offer an alternative to celebrating events such as Valentine’s Day on the same day as everyone else. Don’t feel tied down to what the calendar says. Many restaurant professionals celebrate Valentine’s Day on a day before or after the holiday and go to their favorite restaurants during the week rather than on hectic weekends.

Maybe you’re one of our readers who is a MN certified food manager that has been able to balance a home and professional life. We’d love for you to leave your tips in the comments section below.

January 12, 2016

MN Certified Food Managers and Evaluating Procedures

MN Certified Food Manager and Evaluating Procedures

The beginning of the new year is often a slow time for many restaurants and food preparation facilities. Now may be the time for MN certified food managers to take advantage of the slower pace to look at current operating procedures and inventory to assess whether changes need to be made.

Reevaluating Operating Procedure for the New Year

One of the first things that MN certified food managers should take a look at the beginning of a new year is their facility’s food handling procedures and food safety training. In an effort to help you keep your employees aware of basic food safety procedures, the Minnesota Department of Health has made available a wide variety of