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Food Service workers improve food safety skills
| Name | Rhonda Matthews | | Situation | Food service establishments in Abbeville County and the surrounding counties routinely have a high employment turnover rate. Most food service jobs are entry level positions with little or no experience required. As a result, there are often workers hired especially those who prepare meals for individuals with compromised immune systems (such as patients in hospitals or nursing homes, elderly, or young children), who are willing to work but lack the necessary knowledge to handle food safely. The ServSafe program proves to be an excellent delivery method for sharing this kind of information. | | Response | The ServSafe program was developed by the National Restaurant Association and is based on the Federal Food Code. Only certified instructors have permission to conduct the course. As a County Agent and certified ServSafe course instructor, I have conducted four ServSafe programs during the 2004-2005 year. These programs are open to any individual but are geared specifically toward food service workers located in Abbeville, McCormick, Greenwood, Laurens, and Edgefield counties. Those who registered came from various establishments including local restaurants, hospitals, nursing homes, group children's homes, school food service, Meals on Wheels, and emergency shelters. Each of these establishments feed high numbers of people with compromised/immature immune systems
who are therefore more prone to food borne illnesses.
Topics covered in the course include time-temperature abuse, personal hygiene, food contamination, potentially hazardous foods, proper handwashing procedures, proper food thermometer usage, handling of food
stock, acceptable thawing methods, required minimum internal cooking temperatures, proper food storage, chemical handling precautions, and kitchen sanitation procedures. Teaching methods include lecture, discussion, video, question and answer sessions, and interactive learning activities. Each participant received an employee course manual, handouts, and a digital food thermometer. Two-day programs were conducted on four separate occassions: reaching a total of 72 food service workers. | | Impact | 100% of those enrolled in the ServSafe programs were nationally certified. In order to achieve this, 18 of 25 questions must be answered correctly on the final exam, the benchmark reached by all those who enrolled. |
Last update6/2/2008
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