Communicating Food Safety: The Fundamentals
It’s Fall! Here in the Midwest we know it is a new season with cooler temperatures and changing colors of leaves. Our webinar topic for September was about Communication and ways to effectively message about food safety. Dr. Susan Arendt (our former colleague at Iowa State University) did a wonderful job of explaining the importance of effective communications to achieve food safety. If you missed the live presentation, check out the archived webinar.
She reinforced the essential elements of good communication. Just for fun, we googled “communication” and my goodness, there were lots of resources. These included definitions, types, channels, and barriers. Academic studies abound along with workshops on developing skills and tips for improvement. Basically, it boils down to effective messaging – meaning the receiver understands the intention. But like so many things, the devil is in the details.
So first, what is communication? Wikipedia says “Communication is the act of conveying meanings from one entity to another through the use of mutually understood signs, symbols, and rules”. In essence, communication is the transfer of a message. We like thinking about messaging from the journalistic framework of:
- Who (who is the audience)
- What and Why (what is the message and why should it matter)
- When and Where (time and place of the communication)
- How (method to be used in message transfer)
Crafting the message effectively means using words and language appropriate for the audience. It is important to identify the intended receiver. While a particular group may understand common terms and language, avoiding technical jargon will appeal to a broader audience. Cathy remembers having a hard time following her children’s teachers’ comments at conferences because they used their everyday jargon of education terms that sounded like a foreign language! You might think of your audiences as those “internal” to the operation, such as staff, suppliers, or others who understand the day-to-day operations, and those “external” to the workplace who may not have experienced the wonderful world of foodservice from the operational end, such as customers. Communicating to these two audiences requires different approaches. Inclusion of why the message is important, or perhaps why it matters to the audience, will aid in them receiving the information.
While words are important, use of graphics, photos or icons can be effective across diverse audiences – those internal and external to the operation – but also those with different language and literacy skills. In the world of food processing and foodservice, research has found a picture is indeed “worth a 1,000 words”. The key is selecting the best approach for the message receiver.
The challenge of course is lack of control over how the receiver “gets it”. And that is often tied to the delivery, or the When, Where, and How. A raised voice conveys an emotional response, typically anger or excitement, whereas communicating with a smile will lead to a more positive response. You all know that we communicate with words (verbally and in written form) but other parts of sending the message include body language (aka nonverbal communications). Teen-agers eye rolls are a great example. Time and place of transmitting the message are also important considerations. We all learned in Supervision 101 that it is best to be discreet when coaching staff and giving corrective action. No one likes to be called on the carpet in front of others, especially their peers.
You might recall the popular book from the 1990’s called “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus” in which author John Gray posits that each gender has its own customs and styles of communicating. The key take away from the conversations resulting from this publication is that there is not a “one size fits all” approach to communication. Managers in foodservice need to use a variety of techniques and styles to get their messages across to different audiences. It is not easy!
In the next blog, we will give some examples of effective communication about fundamental practices that protect the safety of food in operations. In the meantime, managers might check out this checklist yes, another checklist!) to reflect their own communication style. It is part of a module developed at Iowa State University with a USDA grant (led by Dr. Arendt) as a result of a national sample of foodservice workers telling us why they don’t always practice safe food handling practices. Some of the reasons, you guessed it, were ineffective and inconsistent communications by managers!
We have a blueprint to aid in crafting effective messages for audiences both internal and external to the foodservice. Effective communication is a key to developing and maintaining a culture of food safety in your operation. Effective communication can prevent a lot of potential problems from becoming a reality. Use your words thoughtfully and consider how your message will come across to the intended audience – Risk Nothing!
Be Aware When You Prepare – Food Prep Tips
The subject of food preparation covers some very broad, basic principles within food safety, with many steps associated with “risk” in some recipes. Certainly, preparation steps are where the most mistakes have occurred if a foodborne illness should occur. Outbreaks usually happen when more than one mistake occurs during prep, but sometimes it only takes one. Cooking is the biggest risk for raw foods, but all foods become ready-to-eat foods at some point in final preparation steps and that’s where the most care is required.
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.
