Food Safety Magazine, June/July 2010

and may involve legal action against me.” Do you think this would set expectations for the priority given to food safety in an establishment?

purpose of passing an examination, but
to have the students understand the im-
portance of what is being taught. Educa-
tion is first. The students need to have
cessful. All of these changes must occur
to achieve the ultimate goal—safe pre-
pared foods for the public. n

“Confidence in food safety at retail and in the
food industry overall has been slipping.”
Conclusions

Visiting retail establishments, observing numerous food production operations and performing inspections and training will give a person a broad perspective on the reality of how food safety processes are implemented and the level of commitment (or lack thereof) to food safety. Establishments that are committed strive to excel and meet the challenges they are faced with daily. Establishments that lack commitment wait until they get caught.

The solution is to bring food safety
into each establishment, not for the sole
the desire to learn, take the training back
with them and actually implement Sani-
tation Standard Operating Procedures.
There is a way to make changes and to
get food safety consciousness to pene-
trate the minds of workers. Regulations
can force this to occur by empowering
inspectors to ensure that regulations are
being followed; these inspections must
be consistent and enforced without poli-
tics. Experts can provide input on best
practices using strong science-based data,
and trainers can instruct employees and
be there to guide them through process
implementation so that they can be suc-

Barry E. Parsons is a certified Food Service Manager Professional and the General Manager and Food Safety Coordinator of Stauffers of Kissel Hill. He is a Servsafe-certified instructor at Penn State Co-operative Extension and is the Food Safety and Food Production Specialist of Robson Forensic. He can be reached at bparsons5@verizon.net.

Sources

1. www.fmi.org.
2. www.fda.gov/Food/FoodSafety/
RetailFoodProtection/
FoodborneIllnessandRiskFactor
Reduction/RetailFoodRisk
Factorstudies/ ucm089696.htm.
3. www.fda.gov/Food/FoodSafety/
RetailFoodProtection/
IndustryandRegulatoryAssistanceand
TrainingResources/ ucm184170.htm.