Food Safety: Practices & Procedures
Do you dream of working in the food industry, dazzling guests’ tastebuds with delectable dishes? Before you can deliver on your dreams, you first must know how to keep guests safe. In this course, you’ll learn the ins and outs of the food industry, food preparation safety, and keeping workspaces and surfaces clean to prevent foodborne illness. You’ll explore understanding and preventing pathogens from spreading to food and setting up a foodservice facility to maintain compliance. You’ll also learn about the wide variety of job options and titles within the food industry. Let’s get ready to learn the important safety measures that lead to your culinary dreams!
Units at a Glance
Unit 1: What is the Foodservice Industry?
Take-out food has become more of a norm than a treat over the past few years. Eating out offers flexibility and saves time, even though it may not always be easy on the pocketbook. As more and more people turn to ready-to-eat food, the foodservice industry continues to expand. The topic of food safety is of the utmost importance for anyone working in the industry. From personal hygiene to preventing diseases, foodservice can only survive if the food is kept safe.
What will you learn in this unit?
- Compare the challenges and benefits of obtaining a career in the foodservice industry
- Describe the various roles in the food brigade
- Create a personal hygiene inventory to ensure you are being as hygienic as possible while at work
- Identify the components of a handwashing station and describe when and how to wash your hands
- Triage worker illnesses and properly report specific symptoms and diseases
Unit 2: Preventing Foodborne Illness
The CDC estimates that 48 million people get sick each year from food. As a foodservice provider, you do not want to contribute to that statistic! Therefore, it is essential to understand what a foodborne illness is, what causes foodborne illnesses, and how to prevent them from contaminating your kitchen. Armed with this information, you will be better positioned to keep food safe.
What will you learn in this unit?
- Explain the difference between a foodborne illness and a foodborne illness outbreak
- Identify the type of microorganisms that cause foodborne illnesses and the conditions they need to flourish
- Describe situations that make food unsafe in the foodservice industry
- Make a plan for how to keep food safe from the three main contaminants
- List the Big 9 allergens and strategize about their prevention
Unit 3: Blocking Pathogens
Pathogens make people sick. But what specific bacteria, viruses, and parasites are associated with foodborne illnesses? And what can we do to prevent illness in our foodservice settings? Mastering these prevention tools will make your restaurant, catering business, or food truck a safe place to eat, letting you focus on the fun stuff—trendsetting and wowing with flavor!
What will you learn in this unit?
- Identify sources, symptoms, and prevention of the Big 6
- Describe the pathogens associated with time and temperature abuse, including their sources, symptoms, and prevention
- Analyze which pathogens thrive best in settings of cross-contamination or poor personal hygiene
- Contrast the main parasites that cause foodborne illness
- Discuss how to reduce the chances of getting sick from toxins in foods
Unit 4: Purchasing, Receiving, and Storing Food
Food travels a long way before it hits a customer’s plate! All along the way, there are specific guidelines put in place to help a foodservice team monitor the food that they serve to ensure it is of high quality and low risk to customers. We’ll get started with the first three steps in the flow of food and look at the considerations and responsibilities that are part of purchasing, receiving, and storing food in a foodservice facility.
What will you learn in this unit?
- Identify the priority controls during each step in the flow of food
- Explain the difference between inspection and grading and identify the organizations responsible for inspecting food products in the United States
- Describe what to monitor when receiving food, including inspection, temperature control, and labeling
- Distinguish between acceptable and unacceptable products
- Determine the correct storage procedures for products, including location, temperature, and time
Unit 5: Food Prep and Service
Food comes out of storage when it’s time to prep the plates and serve them. There are many types of foodservice—consider the difference between grabbing a hotdog off the grill at a convenience store and ordering a hotdog from a food truck or from a restaurant that serves high-end hotdogs with all the fixings. All of these places are serving a similar product, but the type of prep and service varies. The important thing at all of these places is that no matter where you grab your dog, you should be able to rely on the fact that the people serving you are following food safety measures. Here we’ll take a look at the measures that are specific to food prep and service.
What will you learn in this unit?
- Determine precautions in preparation that help significantly reduce the occurrence of foodborne illness outbreaks
- Identify precautions in preparation for food products that need extra consideration
- Differentiate the proper cooking and holding temperatures of select foods
- Describe the one-step and two-step methods of cooling foods
- Contrast the service guidelines for keeping foods safe by location
Unit 6: Keeping the Kitchen Clean
What does being “clean” mean to you? If something is clean, does it make it safe? Does cleaning prevent foodborne illness and disease? We’re about to explore the important difference between cleaners and sanitizers in foodservice establishments, including when and how to clean the kitchen, and how to prevent pests. As diners, we don’t want the restaurant we chose for a nice night out to give us the vibe that it’s unsanitary. Let’s learn how to avoid ever giving off that vibe.
What will you learn in this unit?
- Identify all the factors involved in cleaning the foodservice kitchen, including types of cleaners, when to clean, and how to clean
- Describe the difference between cleaning and sanitizing, and identify the specifics involved in sanitizing a workstation
- Contrast manual and mechanical dishwashing and explain how to operate both methods to ensure items are clean and sanitized
- List methods to clean fixed equipment in a foodservice operation
- Create and maintain a cleaning schedule
- Classify different pests frequently found in foodservice operations and describe how to implement an integrated pest management plan
Unit 7: Facility Design
Developing a restaurant concept into a real place where people can sit down and eat takes a lot of strategic planning. An important part of strategic planning is designing the physical layout of the restaurant and determining the type and location of equipment required. Food safety management systems help keep food safety a priority during the planning and implementation stages. Let’s find out what we need before we can open our doors to the public!
What will you learn in this unit?
- Define what a food safety management system is and describe how to establish active managerial control
- Implement the seven principles of HACCP to prevent foodborne illness
- Distinguish between different types of crises that may occur in the foodservice industry and describe how to manage them
- Establish a set of requirements for designing and constructing a foodservice operation
- Determine equipment standards in a foodservice operation
Unit 8: Responsibility and Management
Responsibility and management are part of the job when in a position of authority. You will learn what responsibilities a manager has regarding food safety, training, and accident prevention. There are local, state, and federal guidelines to keep in mind and implement in your establishment. There are governmental agencies that need to inspect your site and make sure you are doing what is required to keep the public safe. Ready to step into some heavy but powerful shoes?
What will you learn in this unit?
- Distinguish between the different federal agencies involved in food safety including what aspects of food safety they oversee
- Determine state and local agencies’ responsibility regarding food safety and what the kitchen inspection process looks like
- Establish how to train a staff in food safety as a manager
- Identify common accidents in a kitchen, how to prevent them, and how to treat them if they occur
- Establish what some of the most important topics are in food safety in relationship to management positions
Required Materials
Physical
- Video recording device
- Sink
- Soap
- Antiseptics
- Paper towels
- Trash can
Software
- Word processing software
- Presentation software
Other
- Helper
Optional
- Audio recording device
- Poster board
- Art supplies
- Digital camera
- Writing supplies
- Graphic design software
- Spreadsheet software
- Refrigerator
- Tableware