Retail Best Practices and Supervisor's Guide to Food Safety and Sanitation

Supervisors and managers of retail food establishments take on a great burden of keeping food and food products safe from the moment it enters the establishment. There are many opportunities for food to be contaminated between production and consumption. Food can be contaminated at the farm, ranch, orchard, or in the sea. Food also can be contaminated at food processing plants and during transport to retail food establishments. Finally, food can be contaminated during the last stages of production, at retail establishments, and by patrons in their homes. The importance of keeping food safe cannot be underrated. Retail food supervisors and managers can use the Retail Best Practices and Supervisors Guide to Food Safety and Sanitation to assist them in this daunting task. Food safety is especially critical in retail food establishments because this may be the last opportunity to control or eliminate the hazards that might contaminate food and cause foodborne illnesses. Even when purchased from inspected and approved sources, ingredients may contain contaminants when they arrive at a retail food establishment. It is important to know how to handle ingredients safely and how to prepare food in a manner that reduces the risk of contaminated food being sold to your patrons. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is one of the federal agencies responsible for protecting our nation's food supply. The Agency recognizes the importance of food safety in retail food establishments. In fact, the agency's 2001 Food Code recommends that retail food managers be able to demonstrate knowledge in food safety. This knowledge will be very helpful to managers as they create and implement food safety management programs within their operations. Food safety in retail food establishments begins with managers who are knowledgeable about food hazards and who are committed to implementing proper food-handling practices in their facility. It also requires properly trained food workers who understand the essentials of food safety and sanitation and who will not take short cuts when it comes to food safety. The authors of this textbook have been training retail food managers and employees for over 25 years. Many excellent resources are available for this type of training. However, the authors wanted to create a book that was customized for the retail food industry and would meet the training needs of supermarkets, superstores, food warehouses, limited assortment stores, convenience stores, food warehouses, and other types of traditional and nontraditional stores. The Best Practices materials have been proven effective for teaching food safety and sanitation to many different audiences. The authors recommend the textbook and supplemental materials in-class and home study courses to prepare retail food establishment managers to take a national food protection manager certification examination. One of the most important tasks you face is to train and supervise food workers. Your knowledge is useless if you do not teach employees the correct way to handle food. Learn to recognize any break in standard operating procedures that might endanger food safety. Avoid the problems related to embarrassment, loss of reputation, and financial harm that accompany a foodborne disease outbreak. Some state and local jurisdictions have passed legislation to require certification of one or more managers in each retail food establishment. Other jurisdictions are considering doing the same. Most certification programs require candidates to pass a written examination to demonstrate knowledge of food safety and sanitation principles and practices. Some jurisdictions require completion of a food safety course before taking the exam. There is growing support for a nationally recognized examination and credential for retail food protection managers. The Conference for Food Protection (CFP) recognizes food protection manager examinationMcSwane, David R. is the author of 'Retail Best Practices and Supervisor's Guide to Food Safety and Sanitation', published 0000 under ISBN 9780130424068 and ISBN 0130424064.