Communicating Food Safety Messages: The Follow-Up
Earlier this month, we posted our first SafeBites Webinar of 2022, Getting the Word Out: Communicating Your Organization’s Food Safety Practices, presented by Dr. Catherine Strohbehn. If you haven’t had a chance to watch it, please do. It is full of useful information on the who, what, when, and where of effective communication.
You may be asking yourself, why is it important that we communicate food safety messages with your customers? Look no further than your own perceptions of your local restaurant. Have you ever gone into an unkept bathroom in your local restaurant that is void of the soap or paper towels necessary for effective handwashing and wondered how the employees are washing their hands adequately? Or observed an employee handling ready-to-eat food items in a restaurant without gloves on their hands and wondered how safe your food really is?
As much as we’d like to think that those situations do not occur in each of our establishments, these situations are the exact reason that we need to communicate with employees how much time and effort we put into serving safe food. And let’s be real – the amount of time and effort that we do put into the service of safe food when translated into actual dollars is quite substantial, so use that to your competitive advantage!
… isn’t all about messaging to consumers, you must follow through on the promise of safe food. Remember that customers view your operation from a different lens than you or I….
Studies have shown that consumers place a great deal of trust in the industry to provide safe food and when a business fails to provide safe food and this results in a foodborne illness outbreak, the consequences can be devastating to your business. So, spend some time in the coming months determining what your communication strategy will be relative to food safety. While we realize this will not be your only message, including food safety messaging into your social media and print advertising campaigns can help build trust with your customers.
But it isn’t all about messaging to consumers, you must follow through on the promise of safe food. Remember, customers view your operation from a different lens than you or I who are in the industry will. Years ago, I remember my mother accompanying the 4-H group she was leader of on a tour at a local restaurant. The restaurant was one of the top restaurants in Eastern Iowa at the time. I don’t recall much of her comments, but I do remember she was dismayed at how dirty the kitchen was. When digging further, I realized she was upset with how dirty the floor was. Being in the industry at the time, I attempted to convey to her that while the floor was important, it was more than likely mid-shift and it would generally be swept and mopped between shifts and that it was more important to look at actual food handling behaviors and work surface cleanliness, than it was the floor. But, she kept going back to the floor cleanliness because that is what was important to her and I think she compared it to her own kitchen. Her lens was vastly different than mine and it is important to remember that with your consumers, too.
Consumers who visit your establishment and don’t see food safety practices they perceive as most important will almost always side with what they witness, versus what you say you might be doing. Check out our infographic on What Consumers Think, which outlines some visible food safety behaviors that positively influence your customers. The top behavior that inspires the most consumer confidence in food safety? Wearing clear disposable gloves! Over 55% of consumers leave more confident in your food safety behaviors if they see food handlers wash hands and change gloves.
It is important to remember that effective communication is achieved only when the customer trusts that you are knowledgably, but it must also be backed up with sound practices in the establishment. Otherwise, communicating food safety will be a fruitless endeavor. Risk Nothing.
Are Grades for Foodservice Inspections a Good Idea?
I generally try to stay away from controversial topics in my blog, but this is one I thought it might be interesting to discuss. Occasionally on my travels, I will come across a state or a local jurisdiction that requires foodservice inspection scores be posted in the window of the establishment. The idea is to allow would-be customers the ability to see how the foodservice operation in which they are about to eat scored on their latest health inspection.
Neglected Safety: CDC Report Casts Doubts on the Ability of the Foodservice Industry to Ensure Ill Workers Stay at Home
Early in June, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report outlining foodborne illness outbreaks in retail foodservice establishments. The report outlined outbreaks from 25 state and local health departments from 2017 through 2019.
Keeping Food Safe While Serving Outdoors
This afternoon I met some friends for lunch and as I drove through our beautiful downtown area in Manhattan, KS, I noticed that many people were taking advantage of the gorgeous weather and dining outside with friends. For our local community - outdoor dining is one of the remnants of COVID that we actually have come to enjoy on beautiful days. With spring in full swing and summer just around the corner, many foodservice operations are taking advantage of the warm weather by offering outdoor dining options.
The Importance of Air Gaps in Providing Safe Food to All
Late last month, I was exploring job tasks that are important for entry-level foodservice managers to understand related to food safety. The usual items that you would suspect were on the list were certainly included – foodborne outbreaks; temperature danger zone; physical, biological, and chemical contamination; personal hygiene and proper glove use; HACCP systems, etc. But one thing I noticed was missing that really is integral to protecting the food supply in any foodservice operation is air gaps.