The world of food safety training is complex. The science behind foodborne illness is multi-faceted and can be confusing; programs designed to steer the behavior of foodservice employees have to be developed with all things considered; and, of course, there are local regulatory bodies generating health codes that retail food establishments must abide by.
But what if someone operates a foodservice establishment where there is no food safety training requirement? Should they still implement training? Believe it or not, millions of Americans live in areas where food safety training is not required by law. This leaves retail food establishments with the question of whether they should train their employees or not; and if they do decide to train, they have to define the extent. Many factors contribute to this decision: time, money, quality of training, and overall effectiveness are just a few. So what should a business do in such a situation?
The fact of the matter is that regardless of government requirements, food safety training is always a good idea. Implementing training may seem daunting and cumbersome, but as soon as something tragic happens—like a foodborne illness outbreak—any reasonable manager will have wished he or she would have trained the company’s food handlers better. Some businesses are using this kind of forward-thinking to position themselves in a place of responsibility for their customers’ well-being.
Whole Foods is a great example of a retail food establishment that goes beyond the minimum requirements to ensure safe food handling practices. In many areas, their stores are legally exempt from requiring formal food safety training certifications from the majority of their employees. However, that has not stopped the organic powerhouse from ensuring that each one of their employees is educated about safe food handling practices. As part of their orientation, each employee is introduced to training that will benefit each one of Whole Foods’ customers as they purchase clean, healthy, and safe foods.
Have you considered taking a similar responsible step toward safer food handling practices by implementing high-quality, effective training? StateFoodSafety has a variety of customized solutions that have proven to be the perfect fit for any legal or voluntary training situation.
Areas with Requirements
If your business is located where a health code requires that foodservice workers obtain an official permit, you can rest assured that we have a food handler course for that particular jurisdiction. We have more regulatory-approved courses than any other food safety training provider. Getting food handlers approved is as easy as selecting the corresponding state, county, and/or city at StateFoodSafety.com.
Areas without Requirements
If your business does not operate in an area where training is required, there are different options that we’ve created to best fit your situation. We have generic, full versions of our food handler, food manager, and alcohol server/seller courses that would work perfectly in this scenario. We’ve also made a 30-minute course that covers the essentials of food safety, while maintaining the quality of our full food handler course. Finally, we’ve created a wide variety of precision study modules that teach students what they need to know about various topics like handwashing and temperature control.
We are even able to customize our courses for corporate clients, going so far as to provide them with a custom URL so that employees can easily find the right course. It’s our job to make your job easier.
Get started with responsible and effective food safety training today!
— Jeremy Howard
