Just as you teach your employees menu items, the order of service, how to ring in orders using the POS terminal, and everything else that is relevant to successful execution of your concept, it is beneficial to teach them the importance of serving a safe product.

Every time I do a food safety audit of a foodservice establishment, the first thing I ask for is a copy of the employee training manual. The reason I do this is because most of the time there's something missing: a food safety section.

Sometimes I'll find one or two pages with tips such as "wash hands often" and "store poultry on a bottom shelf," but that's hardly enough when it comes to ensuring the safety of your guests and success of your business. I encourage every foodservice operator to get out your employee training manual, flip to the section that deals with food safety (if it exists), and ask yourself: "Is this really enough?"

Just as you teach your employees menu items, the order of service, how to ring in orders using the POS terminal, and everything else that is relevant to successful execution of your concept, it is beneficial to teach them the importance of serving a safe product. After all, even if your food is delicious and the customer service is excellent, none of that will matter if your customer ends up ill—and you end up in court.

All-Around Education
I strongly encourage you see to it that each and every employee in your establishment -even those who do not come into direct contact with food—understands the basic principles of safely handling and preparing food.

There are many options when it comes to food safety education, so choose the one that works best for your establishment.

Do-It-Yourself Safety
Some operators choose not to invest in outsourced training. Although this can be risky, I would recommend at the very least a comprehensive section in your employee manual dealing with food safety.

Each employee needs to read and understand this section before being allowed to begin work and, more importantly, handle food.

Do not be deterred by what you may believe are exorbitant costs for training materials or difficulty accessing information.

With current technology, there are a number of resources that provide a wealth of information free of charge. They are accessible with the click of a mouse, most notably the USDA's Web site; www.foodsafety.nal.usda.gov and an FDA food safety resource; www.foodsafety.gov.

From these two Web sites alone, you can create a basic overview that will help prevent foodborne illness in your establishment and help maintain the standards necessary to keep your customers from becoming ill from your food.

Check out Associations
Another avenue to pursue is your local or state restaurant association, as they often provide food safety training courses or can refer you to professional trainers who can administer on-site classes.

You can access contact information for your association at www.restaurant.org/states

If you elect to construct your own addition to your training manual, it must be presented in a clear manner and in an order that makes sense.

Spell it out
Food safety-related concepts can be complex, so being clear and concise when presenting this information is paramount. I would recommend four sections:

· Foodborne illness: Note how illness occurs; the most common types of contaminates; the leading causes of food becoming contaminated.

· Â Personal hygiene and hand-washing: Explain personal cleanliness, the steps of proper handwashing, common health issues and glove use (if applicable).

· Time and temperature: Cover the importance of critical times and temperatures, and an examination of the food flow process.

· Contamination and sanitation: Explore proper handling and preparation procedures, how contaminants grow and spread, and sanitation issues.

A thorough understanding of these topics should empower your employees with the information and skills needed to prepare a safe product and keep your brand name out of the headlines.

Take it Online
If you wish take it a step further, you can take the curriculum you've built and convert it into online training as part of an e-university that your employees can access using any computer with an Internet connection.

For example, The Foodservice Training Portal— www.foodservicetrainingportal.com—offers a simple 1-2-3 method that allows you to submit your existing curriculum. The information is then converted into an interactive course that includes an end-of-course assessment that must be passed to print a certificate of achievement.

The look and feel of your online course can be customized by creating a "skin" that uses your logo and color scheme.

This allows employees to use the course on-demand and makes the education student-centered, based on their level of knowledge and pace of learning.

Extra Features
In addition, The Foodservice Training Portal will host your course(s) for free within an e-university and provide you with access to its training portal, which stores and manages training records so you can track and monitor all training statistics.

This service can also be helpful to consultants and health departments looking to provide their own custom online food safety training program. Designed to be a cost-effective option, this alternative to manual training can be accomplished for less than $1,000.

"We want to offer our clients the ability to create their own relevant food safety content," says Leslie Bucher, director of business development for the Foodservice Training Portal.

"Taco places have different needs than sub shops, and not all content is necessarily applicable to each client. With custom e-universities, we are able to offer a solution that contains the exact information a client wants to share with their employees."

Don't Take Chances
At most foodservice establishments, the first thing an employee receives when he or she is hired is a training manual.

The best way to show your establishment's commitment to food safety is to have a comprehensive section in that manual dealing with food safety. With this inclusion, you ensure that all of your employees are made aware of the importance of the safe and proper handling of food and how it relates to their role within your organization.

Spotlighting food safety for your staff is critical -for if your employees don't understand the basic principles of safe food handling and preparation, your success as a business and your brand name could be at stake.

When the risk is so great and the solution so simple, why aren't you searching out that manual already?

Lee Biars is the director of industry relations for Safe Food Solutions. Reach him at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or'; document.write( '' ); document.write( addy_text81787 ); document.write( '<\/a>' ); //-->\n This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it www.safefoodsolutions.com.