Food And Sanitation

Being knowledgable in food and sanitation is imperative to running a successful restaurant, as more than fifteen percent of Americans suffer from a food borne illness each year, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. E. coli bacteria and salmonella bacteria cost more than three billion every year with the sicknesses they cause. The E. coli bacteria are found in beef, milk, and unpasteurized juices, producing a deadly toxin that causes more than seventy thousand cases of illness each year. The necessity of a food protection course and food handling certificate for restaurant staff becomes even clearer with the USDA’s estimate that consumers spend almost half of their food expense on food that has been prepared commercially.

Food handling courses can be found through a variety of organizations, including food safety courses administered by the appropriate government agencies or food protection courses administered by for profit businesses like ServSafe. To get a food safety certification is easy, taking only six hours of your time and giving you a wealth of knowledge that will help your restaurant or food service business to run more efficiently and protect your customers effectively.

Such food protection courses deal with a number of subjects. These include a safe way of handling food, such as vegetables, raw meat, and canned goods, the appropriate storage procedure to comply with government guidelines, and the proper hygiene associated with working in the food services industry. Many of these food and hygiene courses also give an overview of the potential bacteria and viruses that can thrive in certain kinds of food and the harmful consequences of serving tainted food.

Successful completion of a food protection course will help to improve your company’s reputation and quality of service, as your employees will be able to identify certain risks or failures to meet guidelines and help to fix them. With the successful completion of the course and the subsequent test, your employees will receive a certificate stating that they have taken the course.