Whichever you decide, because some jurisdictions have more stringent requirements than the conference for food protection, check with your local health department to make sure they also recognize the exam before you pay for it.
Late in July, I was made aware that World Hepatitis Day was on July 28th. I do have to be honest – similar to most of you reading this, I was surprised there was such a thing. After doing a bit of research, I discovered July 28th was named as such to recognize the birthday of Dr. Baruch Blumberg, who first discovered the hepatitis B virus in 1967 and then two years later developed the first hepatitis B vaccine. Each year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization recognize the day to help raise awareness about hepatitis, which impacts over 300 million across the globe and causes more than one million deaths a year.
Earlier in the month, I discussed a bit about the proposed traceability rules that may be coming out soon. One result of implementing the proposed rule and improving overall food traceability in your operation is the ability of those in the food chain to quickly identify and pull product involved in a food recall.
In June, I discussed the importance of having a solid food defense plan, and I provided you some resources for developing or strengthening your food defense plan. As I was writing those blogs, my mind kept turning toward food traceability. While they are distinctly different concepts, food traceability goes hand-in-hand with a food defense program. I would argue for your food defense plan to be effective, you must have an effective internal food traceability program, where you can trace the product back to the supplier (backward traceability), but also be able to trace the product from the supplier to the guest who was served the product (forward traceability).
Earlier in the month, I discussed the importance of having a solid food defense plan in place for your foodservice operation. Even if the first version of your plan is not perfect, it is a start. Having plans down on paper will force you to think through the process and ensure the vulnerable points where opportunities exist for possible contamination within the operation are mitigated.
Late last week, as I mindlessly scrolled through Twitter, I ran across a Tweet suggesting the #IceCreamChallenge from summer 2019 was the real cause of the Coronavirus spread. Of course, the Tweet was made tongue in cheek, but it did cause me to reflect on that challenge, which had a short life on social media in the summer of 2019.
Earlier in the month, I mentioned the top microbial enemies we all face in foodservice operations, E. coli, Campylobacter, Salmonella, and Listeria monocytogenes. While we discussed E. coli and Campylobacter, we did not get around to discussing Salmonella or Listeria monocytogenes.
Last month, I blogged a bit about the human factor in food safety. In the foodservice management realm, I do think the human factor is our biggest challenge, day in, day out. While the human factor is a major contributor to most foodborne illness outbreaks, we can’t forget about the microbial enemy we face on a daily basis.
A few weeks ago, we discussed the top five causes of foodborne illness, 1) Improper hot/cold holding temperatures of time and temperature control for safety foods; 2) Improper cooking temperatures of food; 3) Dirty and/or contaminated utensils and equipment; 4) Poor employee health and hygiene; and 5) Food from unsafe sources. As I noted, all of these items are not in the direct control of your staff, but most can be. For the second blog this month, I wanted to discuss a bit more about the human factor in our food safety programs.
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