Why You Need Food Safety Training for Your Food Service Employees

Suzi Gerber, executive director of Haven Foods, an international food and beverage restaurant consulting firm, noted that the issue of training and food safety is a constant focus among her work for her clients. She always recommends ServSafe, a food and beverage safety training and certificate program administered by the U.S. National Restaurant Association. “ServSafe is the golden standard for training, and when companies send their key employees for manager training and their operators to food handler training, a marked improvement can be witnessed in following SOPs and overall fluency, and enforcement, of food safety guidelines,” she says.

Kyle Michael Townsend, PhD, a clinical assistant professor of hospitality at Georgia State University in Atlanta, who specializes in private club management, food and beverage operations, and quality service in the hospitality industry, said ServSafe is one of the most valuable training programs. “There are multiple levels of this training designed for food handlers and servers, as well as managers and a section on safe service of alcohol,” he says.

In addition, StateFoodSafety and the National Registry for Food Safety Professionals offer similar training online, including advanced levels that provide food allergy training as well. “Online programs are a great addition to their portfolios. We use the online systems for our students here at GSU, as they allow us to work them into the somewhat hectic schedule of an academic semester,” Dr. Townsend says. “This same flexibility is a huge asset to restaurants, as they can be done on an at-your-own-pace schedule and don’t require taking employees out of production for certification and recertification.”

At the beginning of 2016, Chicken Salad Chick partnered with Steritech, an online company that evaluates food safety practices using criteria that are based on FDA’s model Food Code and other regulatory authority standards, and contracted them to work with restaurant management to help them adopt critical food safety practices. “Using the data supplied from evaluations, the operations team develop an action plan to correct any concerns and improve future performance,” Dr. Thompson says. “These plans are then reviewed by either the restaurants’ franchise business consultant or their district manager for approval. As a result, we achieved Best in Class scores and improved food safety performance throughout all restaurants in the system. Not only have the overall scores improved, but the number of critical violations also has decreased to some of the lowest in the industry.”

Captain D’s utilizes a learning management system that tracks completion of orientation and basic training courses such as food safety and personal safety, and managers are alerted to missing or overdue courses. “To ensure consistent food safety protocol, we are on the cutting edge of technology, beta testing with a mobile platform where managers capture temperatures and troubleshoot issues,” Ward says. “This mobile platform is designed specifically for Captain D’s equipment and menu. Supervisors are also notified of missing or outside range results. Additionally, our skilled quality assurance department has the ability to virtually track products and distributor quality from point of inception to trained employees delivering fresh food daily.”

Defining a Culture of Food Safety

Fostering a culture for food safety begins at the top, Dr. Townsend says, with both front- and back-of-the-house management. “Some effective methods include data collection on pertinent issues like food temperatures in house and when receiving, and doing this provides an additional level of impact when dealing with local health inspectors,” he adds. “Ultimately, management oversight is huge here too, as food safety often seems an afterthought until a serious issue develops, and by then, it is just too late.”

Steve Ozbolt, owner of Emerald City Catering and Events in Milwaukee, Wis., agrees that the management of food safety comes from the top down. “If the chef is not taking the proper steps to ensure food safety—cross contamination, improper holding temperatures, cleanliness, etc.— the employees will not do so either,” he says. “We work to explain that these are serious issues and must be taken seriously. Not only the foodborne illness, but [also] the possibility of cross contamination for someone who may be allergic can cause a very serious problem. Continuing education is important, but not as essential as best practices.”