How to Improve Food Safety Culture

How to Improve Food Safety Culture How to Improve Food Safety Culture The  CDC estimates  that over 48 million people get sick each year from foodborne illnesses. Of those millions, 128,000 are hospitalized from their illnessesâ€"and 3,000 die. As you can see, its more important than ever for anyone who works with food to practice safe food handling techniques. Because when you do, you can easily prevent the formation of any of the 250 foodborne diseases in existence from affecting your customers. The best way to encourage safe food handling in your restaurant is to create a culture that prioritizes food safety. What is Food Safety Culture? Food safety culture describes when everyone in the company values food safety more than profits and sales. Developing a food safety culture takes time, as well as an investment of money and resources into additional personnel, protective equipment, and safety plans. If youre looking to improve your business food safety culture, follow our tips below! Strategies for Improving Food Safety Practices 1. Start with Leadership The phrase start at the top certainly applies when youre working to improve food safety. So once you get  leadership involved, the rest of the business will follow suit. Additionally, leadership controls the resources you need to improve food safety culture, like budget, hiring allowances, and committee development. 2. Explain the Why Before you implement changes to improve your business food safety culture, ensure everyone understands  why a great food safety culture is important. Without an explanation of its importance, most employees wont follow food safety compliance. Whether its sharing facts, real-world examples, or explaining the repercussions the business could face, make sure that everyone understands the why. 3. Create a Training Program You cant improve your food safety culture unless all employees understand how to handle food safely. You need to create a robust training program that includes information about each step of the food handling process: preparation, cooking, and cleanup. Additionally, your training program should touch on the differences between handling raw and cooked food, proper cooking temperatures, and food storage. 4. Form a Food Safety Committee A single training session isnt nearly inclusive enough to cover all the safety training your employees need. Continuous training sessions scheduled and managed by a  food safety committee  will take your food safety culture to the next level. Additionally, the committee can help to ensure youre doing your part to prevent the spread of foodborne illnesses. 5. Supply the Essential Equipment While training teaches your team how to properly handle food, theyre powerless without the right equipment. You must ensure there is enough of the proper supplies for the amount of food being prepared. For example, you need to keep a food thermometer at every station, not just a single one in the kitchen. 6. Engage and Reward Employees Engaging employees at the start of any new program is easy. But once the training and regulations become routine, it can be challenging to  keep employees engaged. To overcome this, create a reward or incentive system as part of your program for improved food safety. Whether its catered lunches after accident-free milestones, or gift card raffles at every safety training, small rewards can go a long way. 7. Maintain Your Commitment Improvements in your food safety culture wont happen overnight; they will take time and require long-term commitments from everyone involved. While your reward system will help employees stay dedicated, everyone involved needs to understand that results wont happen overnight; they should expect to invest time to see results. Start Your Food Safety Training Today Now that you have a better understanding of how to improve the food safety culture, its time to take the next step and get trained. Lucky for you, we offer all the food safety training courses you will need. Sign up for your  food safety  manager or  food handler  training today!