Minnesota food code Archives

May 12, 2025June 29, 2025

Bird Flu in 2025: What Every Certified Food Protection Manager Needs to Know

Guy in protective gear examining a chicken. — Don’t worry about the bird flu. Just prepare food at safe temperatures!

As we progress through 2025, the ongoing avian influenza (H5N1) situation, commonly referred to as bird flu, continues to require the attention of food service professionals across Minnesota. For the certified food protection manager, understanding the risks and reinforcing safety protocols is fundamental to protecting public health. Your role in upholding Minnesota food safety standards is more critical than ever, despite the low public threat.

The good news is that established food safety practices are highly effective against the virus. Properly handling and cooking poultry to an internal temperature of 165°F kills the avian influenza virus, which means your standard procedures are your best defense.

Understanding the Current Situation

It’s essential to stay informed without becoming alarmed. The CDC’s risk assessment for the H5N1 virus has stated that the risk to the general U.S. population is low. However, vigilance in a professional setting is key.

The situation remains dynamic, with the user-provided draft noting 70 confirmed human cases and one death in the U.S. as of late June 2025. This highlights the need for stringent professional standards.

Impact on Supply: The poultry industry has been significantly affected, with millions of birds impacted by Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI). This can impact supply chains and underscore the importance of diligence in sourcing products.
Low Transmission from Food: Health authorities have consistently emphasized that properly handled and cooked poultry and eggs are safe to consume. The system of inspection and safe handling protocols helps ensure affected products do not enter the food supply.
Focus on Prevention: For the certified food protection manager, the focus is not on the field-level outbreak itself, but on preventing cross-contamination and ensuring all poultry products reach a safe cooking temperature.

Key Minnesota Food Safety Protocols for Avian Flu Prevention

Your leadership in implementing and enforcing food safety measures is the most powerful defense. Re-emphasize these core principles with your team to address any concerns related to avian flu and other foodborne pathogens.

Verify Your Sources: Now is an excellent time to communicate with your suppliers. Ensure they are following rigorous biosecurity and testing measures for their poultry products. This is especially important for farm-to-table establishments that source directly from local Minnesota producers.
Enforce Strict Temperature Control: This is a non-negotiable kill step. Cook all poultry, including whole birds, pieces, and ground products, to a minimum internal temperature of 165°F (74 °C). Use a calibrated food thermometer to verify the temperature in the thickest part of the product.
Heighten Sanitation and Prevent Cross-Contamination: Raw poultry and its juices can contain various pathogens. Reinforce cleaning and sanitation protocols for all surfaces, cutting boards, and equipment that come into contact with raw chicken. Emphasize the importance of frequent and thorough handwashing for all staff after handling raw poultry.

Training Your Team for Heightened Awareness

baby chick — Certified food protection managers don’t have to worry about the bird flu if they follow proper cooking protocols!

An informed team is a safe team. As a certified food protection manager, it’s your responsibility to ensure every staff member understands their role in protecting your customers and your establishment’s reputation.

Communicate Clearly: Hold brief pre-shift meetings to discuss the importance of your establishment’s poultry handling and cooking procedures. Use this as an opportunity to answer questions and dispel any misinformation.
Focus on the “Why”: Don’t just tell your team to cook chicken to 165°F; explain that this temperature effectively destroys viruses like H5N1 and bacteria like Salmonella. A well-understood protocol is more likely to be followed.
Invest in Ongoing Education: The food safety landscape is always evolving. Regular training and continuing education are essential for maintaining your team’s skills and keeping them up-to-date on emerging challenges. This is a core component of maintaining a robust Minnesota food safety culture.

By staying informed and doubling down on the foundational principles of food safety, you can confidently navigate the current avian flu situation. Your expertise as a certified food protection manager is the cornerstone of a safe dining experience for all Minnesotans.

Ready to enhance your team’s knowledge or get your required certification? Safe Food Training offers personalized, instructor-led options for your food safety certification in MN and continuing education needs.

Book your continuing education training and ensure you and your team are prepared for any challenge.

May 20, 2024May 6, 2026

Instructive Tips For Food Safety Managers At Medical Institutions

If you’re a Certified Food Protection Manager (CFPM) in a Minnesota medical facility, you’re serving a “highly susceptible population.” This includes older residents, surgical patients, and those with weakened immune systems who are more likely to get sick from foodborne illnesses. Staying diligent with sanitation, allergy tracking, and produce prep is the best way to keep your residents safe and your facility compliant with the Minnesota Food Code.

Extra Precautions for High-Risk Food Service

When you’re managing a busy kitchen in a hospital or assisted living center, the stakes are much higher than in a standard restaurant. You aren’t just serving dinner; you’re protecting vulnerable people. It’s why we focus so much on these specific areas during our training sessions.

Master Your Sanitizer Mix

It’s vital to sanitize every utensil and prep surface correctly. You’ve probably done this a thousand times, but it’s easy to get careless during a Friday rush. Don’t guess at the mixture. If your solution’s too weak, bacteria stay on the counters. If it’s too strong, your patients might ingest chemicals like bleach or iodine. Keep those test strips right where you can see them and use them often.

Don't Skip the Produce Wash

We always tell our clients to wash all raw fruits and vegetables, even the ones that say “ready to eat” on the bag. Produce travels a long journey before it reaches your loading dock in Duluth or the Twin Cities. It sits in warehouses and travels in trucks, where it can pick up dirt or other hazards. For a healthy adult, a little leftover bacteria might not be a big deal, but for your residents, it could be a serious health risk. Taking that extra minute to rinse everything is a simple way to stay safe.

Tighten Up Your Allergy Tracking

In medical facilities, patients come and go quickly. It’s easy for allergy information to get lost when someone new moves in. You’ve got to be strict about your record-keeping. Some of the best managers I know have decided to just cut out high-risk items like peanuts or shellfish entirely. It takes the guesswork out of the equation and keeps everyone a lot safer.

Frequently Asked Questions About Institutional Food Safety

If you’re running a kitchen in a care facility, you probably have specific questions about state rules. Here are some common things we hear during our certification courses.

What is a "highly susceptible population" in Minnesota?

This term refers to groups such as preschool children, older adults, and immunocompromised individuals. The Minnesota Food Code has much stricter rules for facilities serving these folks because their bodies can’t fight off foodborne infections as easily as others.

Are there specific foods I can't serve in a medical facility?

Yes, there are restrictions. You can’t serve raw or undercooked animal products, such as rare steak or raw oysters. You also can’t use unpasteurized eggs in recipes that aren’t fully cooked, like Caesar dressing or hollandaise sauce, unless you’ve got an approved HACCP plan in place.

Do I need a HACCP plan for my facility?

You might. If you’re performing specialized processes, such as vacuum packaging or using unpasteurized juice for highly susceptible residents, the state often requires a Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) plan. This is just a systematic way to identify and control food safety risks.

Book Your Training with Safe Food Training

Food Safety Managers at Medical Institutions — Are you up to code for your medical institution?

Whether you need a full 8-hour certification or just your 3-year renewal, we’re here to help. Give Jeff a call at (952) 210-0195 or email info@safefoodtraining.com to find a class near you. You can also see our full schedule and register at safefoodtraining.com.

September 19, 2022September 19, 2022

When Can ServSafe Managers Expect the Surprise Health Inspector

Every so often, we get asked by prospective ServSafe food managers if they’ll receive a warning before the health inspector shows up at their food business. Well, if you’re doing everything right, reinforce a proper food safety culture in your establishment; does it really matter when the health inspector walks into your door? While there are no flashing lights, alarms or signs from above for Servsafe managers, there is an expected frequency for when your establishment requires a visit from a health department inspector.

How Often Can ServSafe Food Managers Expect a Health Department Inspection?

Your local health department commissioner schedules inspections during specific intervals depending on the risk category of your food establishment. The food code breaks down the food establishment inspection frequency into three categories:

High-Risk: Once at Least Every 12 Months
Medium-Risk: Once at Least Every 18 Months
Low-Risk: Once at Least Every 24 Months

While you won’t know exactly when they’ll show up, you can expect a visit within a regular time frame, but how do you know which type of food business you operate? Most restaurants, resorts, hotels with pools, catering companies and other establishments that prepare products in advance and cool and reheat products will be considered high-risk. A majority of food establishments fall into this category.

Medium-risk food establishments serve some potentially hazardous foods but with little time between preparation and service. These businesses usually only serve items such as pizza, fryer foods and sandwiches that are prepared and served immediately with minimal holding and limited time between preparation and service.

A low-risk food establishment offers food with very limited preparation. These can be coffee stands with prepackaged pastries, hotels with minimal food offerings or certain grab-and-go food services. These businesses will only see the inspector every two years and most may not require a ServSafe food manager for operation.

Regardless of what type of business you operate, your ServSafe food manager or designated person in charge in their absence should make themselves available when the inspector shows up. You don’t necessarily need to guide them throughout the facility, but it’s a good idea to be around them. Never make an attempt to stall the process, misdirect inspectors from certain areas of your facility or hinder the inspection in any way. This will help speed the process and allow them to ensure your food is being served in a safe manner. Remember, these inspectors aren’t there to find fault with your establishment or punish food business owners, they are there to ensure the safety of your product. Don’t be offended if issues arise, rather ask questions and find solutions to any violation before the inspector leaves your business.

September 13, 2021September 9, 2021

Scary Simple Front Of House Food Safety Precautions

Kitchen personnel have easy access to gloves, serving utensils and other tools to help them avoid bare hand contact with any ready-to-eat foods, but servers, bar tenders and busboys tend to have a much more hectic pace to their routine and may be further away from supplies when it comes to bare hand contact and ready-to-eat foods. With a few simple precautions, we can ensure that the front of the house keeps the same food safety standards as the kitchen.

Avoiding Front Of House Bare Hand Contact with Ready-to-Eat Foods Has A Huge Impact on Food Safety

The Minnesota Food Code states that there can be no bare hand contact with food that is ready to serve. This includes cooked foods, raw fruits and vegetables and any other items ready for consumption. For the kitchen, this is pretty straight forward, but bar tenders and servers come into contact with these types of foods as well. Some examples include:

Fresh bread
Garnishes for drinks
Leftovers to be boxed up
Unique items held at server stations

Bread, garnishes, drinks and leftovers cannot be handled with bare hands. There are also some unique situations that can be a food safety hazard when handled with bare hands such as table snacks, fruit and vegetable slices for kid’s meals and a number of other possibilities. Just remember, if the food goes directly from its holding place to a customer’s plate, it should be considered a ready-to-eat food.

One-use disposable gloves are recommended when handling ready-to-eat products, but it can be a time consuming reparative task for the hustle of the wait staff’s routine during high-volume service. Tongs, spatulas and other utensils that can easily transport food on to plate or into drinks are acceptable and much easier to use than constantly changing gloves. However, when bagging up leftovers or continually handling garnishes for extended periods of time before returning to the dining room floor, single-use food service gloves may be the best option.

Always remember to wash your hands thoroughly and promote food safety training in the front of the house when it comes to handling ready-to-eat product.

Have you reviewed food safety training procedures for handling prepared food on the dining room floor?