Food Safety Training and Education

The primary objective of food safety training and education is to reduce the risk of foodborne illnesses by ensuring that food handlers understand and follow food safety regulations.

The food establishment manager is responsible for ensuring that food handlers receive adequate food safety training.

The key elements of food safety training include personal hygiene, food handling practices, and sanitation.

Food handlers should receive food safety training every two years.

Not providing adequate food safety training to food handlers can lead to increased risk of foodborne illnesses, fines and penalties from the local health department, and loss of customers and reputation.

Food safety inspectors play a crucial role in ensuring food safety by inspecting food establishments for compliance with food safety regulations, providing food safety training to food handlers, and investigating foodborne illness outbreaks.

Common food safety hazards include bacteria, viruses, and parasites, chemicals, such as pesticides and cleaning agents, and physical hazards, such as glass and metal fragments.

The four Cs of food safety are cleaning, cooling, cooking, and cross-contamination.

The temperature danger zone for food is 40°F to 140°F.

The proper way to wash hands before handling food is with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.

The best way to prevent cross-contamination in the kitchen is to use separate cutting boards for raw meat, poultry, and seafood, wash hands thoroughly after handling raw meat, poultry, and seafood, and clean and sanitize kitchen surfaces regularly.

The proper way to store food in the refrigerator is to store raw meat, poultry, and seafood on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator, store cooked food on the top shelf of the refrigerator, and keep the refrigerator temperature at 40°F or below.

The proper way to thaw frozen food is in the refrigerator.

The proper way to cook chicken to ensure it is safe to eat is to cook it to an internal temperature of 165°F.

The proper way to clean and sanitize food contact surfaces is to wash surfaces with hot soapy water and rinse with clean water, sanitize surfaces with a chlorine-based sanitizer, and air dry surfaces.