National Food Safety Month Celebrates 20 Years

September, 2014 marks the 20th anniversary of National Food Safety Month (NFSM), started by the National Restaurant Association (NRA) as an annual event to help keep food safety top of mind.

Each year a theme is selected to focus in on an important food safety topic. For 2014, it’s “Be Safe: Don’t Cross Contaminate”. From preparation to service, vigilance is required to prevent the spread of pathogens or allergens in a food service operation.

20 Years of Food Safety Knowledge

To celebrate 20 years of awareness building, NFSM is recapping its top 20 food safety tips in a video on the official NFSM page. Some highlights include:

• Sanitation and hygiene in the front of the house: Food safety vigilance doesn’t stop at the kitchen door. For example, drink garnishes should be handled with gloves or clean hands only, and cutting boards and knives cleaned and sanitized before preparation. The bar should be wiped down and sanitized, too.

• Avoid a reaction by taking action: make sure you’re aware of the “big 8” – peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, milk, fish, crustaceans, soya, and wheat. Prevent cross-contamination by cleaning and sanitizing tables, menus, and salt and pepper shakers and other condiments. Segregate tools and utensils, and have a separate work area to keep allergens contained.

• Events: make sure food safety makes its way from the professional kitchen to the home. Tips on Thanksgiving food safety, and casual events like BBQs remind you of the risks and how to prevent them.

Over time, practices can become more lax. The busier we are, the more likely we are to cut corners. National Food Safety Month is an opportunity to hold a formal or informal event within your organization.

• Host a good manufacturing/good handling practices refresher.

• Hold a contest that encourages employees to look for examples of their role in preserving food safety and where there’s room for improvement.

• Invite a guest speaker to provide a fresh perspective or share information relevant to your employees’ work.

This is a great time to make improvements and raise awareness. But there’s always more work to be done. We’ll never reach a point where we can brush off our hands and say, there – we’re finished! The food industry is constantly evolving, from globalization to sustainability, traceability to regulations, new technologies to consumer trends.

Delegating September as National Food Safety Month helps ensure this important topic stays top of mind for all!

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