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Evaluating the best option for certified food protection manager training

The Best Option For Certified Food Protection Manager Training

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With current Stay Safe MN regulations, in-person certified food protection manager training has been stalled over the months of the shutdown to slow the spread of COVID-19. Now that we’re beginning to reopen, should those seeking certified food protection manager training flock to instructor led courses or choose the on-line option?

Evaluating the best option for certified food manager training in MN

Instructor Led Certified Food Protection Manager Training Versus Online Sessions during the Pandemic

The first advice we want to give you is to make sure that you’re up to date on your certifications. Don’t wait until the economy completely opens up to seek out training if your certification has lapsed. We’re still bound by the Minnesota food code rules on the role of an active certified food protection manager in our food processing facilities and restaurants.

There is some good news for those seeking renewal during these times. The Minnesota Department of Health is allowing for a six month grace period to submit your renewal application after your current certification has expired. This means that you can still actively perform your duties for six months even after expiration.

While this grace period is generous, we shouldn’t take advantage of it and neglect our renewal training. That is why we’re recommending that those seeking first-time certifications and renewals utilize online certified food protection manager courses. Online courses can be taken from the comfort of your own home and at your leisure. Completing online food safety training can greatly speed up the process of gaining your certification or renewal.

Online food manager certification training is unfortunately the best and most recommended training option at this time. Due to limitations on training venue availability, social distancing regulations and mask mandates, instructor led courses just cannot be run at the same capacity, frequency and effectiveness as they once were.

If you need help with online certification or have questions about how to obtain your renewal, don’t hesitate to contact Safe Food Training with your questions. We’ll do our best to provide any information you require.

Certified Food Protection Managers and Sanitizers in Food

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With the current health crisis and the efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19, certified food protection managers have been required to up the ante on their attention to sanitation procedures in the kitchen and on the dining room floor. While proper sanitation will help prevent the spread of the Coronavirus and keep other contaminants out of the food your serve your guests, frequent sanitation can lead to the risk of chemicals making their way into the food you serve. Since Certified Food Protection Managers are sanitizing more frequently in these times, we should take a look at measures to keep our food free of chemical sanitizers.

Certified Food Protection Managers Guarding Against Sanitizers in Food
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Use of Sanitizers in Food Preparation by Certified Food Protection Managers

Sanitizing on a regular basis should not pose any threat to your guests. In fact, proper sanitation procedures should be done as frequently as necessary in order to kill viruses and bacteria in your establishment. The danger in over sanitation doesn’t come from sanitizing too often, it comes from using too much sanitizer product.

There are three types of sanitizer options approved by the Minnesota Food Code for use by Certified Food Managers in restaurants and other food production establishments:

  • Bleach or chlorine solution at 50ppm for 10 seconds
  • Iodine solution at 12.4 to 24ppm for 30 seconds
  • Quaternary ammonia solution at 200 to 400ppm for 30 seconds

Sanitizer solutions at the appropriate dilutions should be enough to keep the Coronavirus at bay. The danger lies is exceeding the amount of sanitizing chemicals in these recommended solutions. At the appropriate levels, bleach, iodine and ammonia will evaporate at room temperature after they have been utilized. If the concentrations are much higher than the recommended dilutions, you run the risk of exposing food that is served or prepared on previously sanitized surfaces. You may have reduced the risk of spreading viruses and bacteria, but you’ve increased the risk of adding unwanted chemicals to your product.

Besides sanitizing our surfaces, we’re also tempted to use sanitizer on our hands more often than before. While the health department allows for the use of antiseptics after hand washing, we must be very careful to remember that bare-hand contact with ready-to-eat foods is not allowed. Certified food protection managers should take an extra precaution and remind their staff to always wear food-service gloves when handling food and to change them after every task. This will prevent sanitizers on our hands from coming into contact with food product.

Are certified food protection managers in your establishment monitoring your sanitizing procedure to prevent chemical sanitizers from contaminating the food you serve?

Food Safety Training for Hygiene

Food Safety Training for Hygiene During Cold and Flu Season

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Food service managers and professionals all know that proper personal hygiene helps keep the food you prepare safe from contamination, and, as we roll into cold and flu season, it can boost your staff’s resistance to bugs and stop them from unknowingly spreading illness to your guests. This week, we’d like to provide a quick online food safety training refresher course on personal hygiene standards for food service professionals.

Food Safety Training for Hygiene
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Hygiene and Food Safety Training Review

While food safety hygiene training is important all year long, this could be the best season to review these important issues with your employees:

  • Handwashing
  • Care of Cuts and Sores
  • Hair Covering and Restraints
  • Proper Clothing
  • Jewelry
  • When to be Excluded from Food Handling

Your facility must be equipped with a functional and fully stocked handwashing station. During periodic food safety training, review handwashing procedures and instruct employees to wash often, especially during cold season. Posting a Minnesota food code handwashing fact sheet near all handwashing stations conveniently provides a reference to procedures and a reminder to wash properly.

Taking care of cuts, sores and burns serves two purposes. First, it prevents blood, loose skin and other fluids that result from an injury from coming into contact with the food your staff prepares. It can also help maintain the injured worker’s health by preventing possible infections that could cause them to miss work or become ill. Make sure you have a first-aid kit handy and check often to ensure that it’s fully stocked with bandages, antiseptic and burn creams.

Your clothing and jewelry do more than provide a good look. Dirty clothes can spread illnesses, foodborne and otherwise. Make sure that your staff understands the importance of clean uniforms. Jewelry should not be worn in the kitchen, with the exception of a properly covered wedding band. Jewelry can potentially be covered in contaminates and infect food.

Finally, know when to send staff home or tell them to stay home when ill. Any staff experiencing flu-like symptoms should not work. This will help them get the rest they need to recover and reduce the chances they spread their illness to fellow coworkers and guests. Beyond cold and flu symptoms, food service professionals should stay home if they feel any effects of foodborne illness.

Do you commonly review hygiene procedures?

Non-Continuous Cooking Steps

Online Food Safety Training Update on Non-Continuous Cooking

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Back in November, we covered an interesting addition to the Minnesota Food Code revision; non-continuous cooking- the ability to halt the cooking process and resume at a later time. At the time, we only had some basic information and a rough draft of the new food code, but now that the code is in effect, the Department of Health has released fact sheets and more detailed information about this procedure.

Non-Continuous Cooking Steps
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Non-Continuous Cooking Procedures

The procedure for non-continuous cooking can be broken down into five steps:

  1. Cook product for 60 minutes or less
  2. Cool food properly within two hours
  3. Store product below 41 degrees
  4. Cook food completely when reheating
  5. Serve immediately, hot-hold or cool properly for later use

This process offers a solution for certified food managers who wish to partially cook raw animal product or other sensitive items and reserve under refrigeration or in the freezer until the time comes to cook and serve. Along with these five steps, the health department requires documentation for this process which must be reviewed and approved by the proper regulatory official, namely your health inspector.

Include the following vital information in your documentation and proposal to be reviewed:

  • The monitoring and implementation process of the five required steps
  • Corrective actions if the five steps are not met properly
  • How partially cooked product will be labeled or identified
  • Steps taken to prevent cross contamination with ready-to-eat foods

We have a few quick notes concerning these new rules. You may wish to review your online food safety training concerning cooling and temperature control and proper cooking temperatures. Remember, all product must reach the correct temperature before serving. The non-continuous cooking method should never be used for product that may be served undercooked at customer request. Undercooking previously partially cooked meats presents an increased food-borne illness risk.

We’ve found local health inspectors are more willing to work with food producers to ensure that these new rules are followed correctly. Feel free to contact your health department if you’re ready to have your proposal reviewed or if you have any questions.