Beyond Simple Compliance: Nurturing a Food Safety Culture in Your Team
In writing my last blog post, I was torn on addressing the issue of getting ready for a health inspection. I was torn, not because it isn’t an important topic, but because I didn’t want the reader who just stumbled upon the post and has not followed the FoodHandler blog previously to think I was promoting a reactive food safety program – one where we just get ready for the health inspection a month out from when we think that inspection might occur and forget about food safety the rest of the year. Deep down, I believe that food safety in retail foodservice establishments should be a proactive system, a system where we have developed a food safety culture among our team members.
Establishing a robust food safety culture within your establishment is essential for ensuring the health and well-being of your customers, maintaining regulatory compliance, and safeguarding the reputation of your operation. A food safety culture encompasses the shared values, beliefs, and behaviors that prioritize safe food handling practices at all levels of the organization. When we work with schools, we often talk about how the school system’s superintendent must buy into the food safety program, not just those managers and employees in the kitchen. In the restaurant setting, this means everyone from the general manager to bus persons.
A strong food safety culture begins with a visible commitment from leadership. What visibility means for your operation depends on the operation. Remember, it starts at the top and employees take their cues from the leaders. At the very least, we always say if you are a general manager and you want to promote food safety, but when you enter the kitchen and don’t wash your hands, what message does this send to your employees? When managers actively demonstrate their dedication to food safety, it sets a standard for the entire team. This also includes allocating resources for training, implementing comprehensive food safety policies, and fostering an environment where safety is prioritized above all else.
Investing in regular and thorough training is vital to food safety program success. Training ensures that staff members have the knowledge and skills to uphold food safety standards. Food safety training alone does not change on-the-job behaviors, but if you want employees to work toward changing behaviors, they must know the basics. Training should cover essential topics such as proper handwashing techniques, safe food storage practices, temperature control, and recognizing signs of foodborne illnesses. Understanding that knowledge alone isn’t sufficient; translating that knowledge into safe practices is key.
Food safety should not be viewed as a standalone requirement but as an integral component of your establishment’s core values.
Encouraging transparent and open communication allows employees to voice concerns, report potential hazards, and suggest improvements without fear of retribution. Regular meetings, feedback sessions, and anonymous reporting mechanisms can help in identifying and addressing issues before they escalate. This two-way communication fosters trust and reinforces the importance of collective responsibility in maintaining food safety.
Empowering employees to take ownership of food safety practices instills a sense of responsibility and pride in their work. Recognizing and rewarding safe behaviors can motivate staff and reinforce positive actions. Conversely, holding individuals accountable for lapses ensures that everyone understands the seriousness of food safety and the potential consequences of negligence.
Food safety should not be viewed as a standalone requirement but as a vital component of your business. By aligning food safety efforts with overall company objectives, you create a unified approach where every team member understands their role in maintaining these high standards. This alignment ensures that food safety becomes a natural and consistent part of daily operations.
Incorporating these strategies into the daily operation of your establishment can lead to a sustainable and effective food safety culture. In the end, remember that food safety is not a reactive program. A proactive approach helps mitigate risks and enhance the organization’s overall safety culture. Risk Nothing.
READ MORE POSTS
Food Gloves & Latex Allergy Education
Politicians joke about the endless stretch of rubber chicken dinners they may consume in an election year. For people with a latex allergy, such a prospect may be no laughing matter. While latex serves as an effective barrier glove material and has the best fit because of its elasticity, the risks associated should not be ignored. The solution is not simple and many options are available for operators today. It should always be mentioned that handwashing (before putting on gloves) is always the primary barrier to contamination and gloves are considered a good secondary barrier.
Foodborne Illness Myths & Facts
“It must have been something I ate.” That’s the typical statement when a person develops some relatively minor symptoms from food. Maybe not severe enough to go to the doctor so you choose to tough it out without medical care. Sudden onset of flu-like symptoms such as onset of stomach cramps, diarrhea, vomiting and fever could possibly mean you are the victim of a foodborne illness. The illness is sometimes referred to as “food poisoning”, but it’s often misdiagnosed.
Don’t Compromise: Clean and Sanitize
The subject is cleaning and sanitizing. Chefs, food service directors, managers and staff try to practice safe food-handling at every turn in the kitchen. Don’t let that effort go down the drain by slacking off on the many aspects of sanitation. That includes dish and ware-washing techniques (pots, pans, equipment), and cleaning all the areas that give us that “neat as a pin” appearance in your customers eyes. Customers seldom fail to bring that soiled silverware or glass with lipstick on it to the attention of the manager or wait staff. Improperly cleaning and sanitizing of food contact equipment does allow transmission of pathogenic microorganisms to food and ultimately our customer.
The Route to Safer Fresh Fruits and Vegetables
Although fruits and vegetables are one of the healthiest foods sources in our diet, we continue to have foodborne disease outbreaks of significance from produce, sometimes affecting large groups of people in multiple states because of their wide distribution. The CDC estimates that fresh produce now causes a huge number of foodborne illness outbreaks in the United States. Produce needs our continued food safety efforts at the restaurant level as well as at the stages in agricultural production. Occasionally, fresh fruits and vegetables can become contaminated with harmful bacteria or viruses, such as Salmonella, E. coli 0157:H7, Norovirus, and Hepatitis A. This contamination can occur at any point from the field to our table. If eaten, contaminated fruits and vegetables can cause foodborne illness.
