One of the biggest problems faced by food service professionals and food safety trainers alike is the issue of how to capture and hold attention when teaching foodservice employees about food safety. There are a variety of ways to do this, ranging from offering broader access to classes through online training to increasing the interactivity of food safety sessions. One of the most effective methods of teaching and reinforcing food safety best practices comes in the form of simple infographics.
A recent three-part investigation held by Global News discovered that many restaurants in Nova Scotia go up to six years without being inspected by a public health official - including those deemed as being high-risk for foodborne illnesses. The food safety inspection gap in Nova Scotia comes as a surprise to many Canadians, as the benefits of food service establishments undergoing regular health inspections are innumerable for both customers and businesses themselves.
Robyn Goorevitch has been one of our food safety trainers for a number of years. In addition to her work with us, Robyn also runs her own food safety classes for various organizations. In July 2016, Robyn received a cancer diagnosis and was told by her oncologist that all she had to do to ensure that her food was safe was to avoid sushi. She was shocked by this misinformation, since she educates people every day on the food safety steps that have to be taken for high-risk groups - which includes cancer patients. She decided to do something about it by offering food safety classes through Wellspring, a nonprofit organization which exists to help cancer patients and their caregivers, even while battling the disease herself.
Nunavut has set itself apart from Canada’s other provinces and territories by creating its own government-enforced set of food safety guidelines. The guidelines are unique in that they have been created with the intention to protect citizens who are ill or may have compromised immune systems. Here’s what you need to know about country food and Nunavut’s new food safety guidelines.
The holidays are quickly approaching, bringing with them traditional gatherings with family and friends featuring the usual holiday foods. For those responsible for meal preparation around the holidays, it’s important to know what foods pose potential food safety problems and how to handle them safely. Knowing the five problem foods will help you avoid a food poisoning nightmare scenario this holiday season.
Developing and implementing an effective food safety training program is essential to any business that deals with food, but it can present some challenges. Some of the challenges Food Safety Market has seen when performing our food safety training in Canada include a lack of uniformity regarding country-wide regulations and legislation, a lack of access to proper training, obligation to completing required courses, and a lack of engagement.
In a recent CBC report on food safety citations that were handed out in Montreal, language barriers were cited as an obstacle by the head of Montreal’s food inspection department.
In this article, language barriers are cited as a major reason why some food safety citations were handed out in Montreal.
"We have neighbourhoods where we have a challenge, sometimes caused by a language barrier, we have trouble getting our message across," she said, pointing to areas like Parc-Extension, Saint-Laurent, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce-Côte-des-Neiges, Chinatown and Verdun. But, in these neighbourhoods, we also have excellent restaurants, impeccable.”
-Myrta Mantzavrakos, head of Montreal food inspection department
Summer cookouts and snacks on day trips go hand-in-hand with the enjoyment of our short Canadian summers. But food can quickly become contaminated with bacteria which causes foodborne illness. The hotter it is, the more exponential the chances are that your hot dogs and hamburgers are ticking disease bombs instead of tasty treats. It is possible to enjoy summer treats safely - it just takes some prep work and extra consideration.
If you run a Canadian restaurant or other foodservice business, complying with the federal Food Retail and Food Services Code (FRFSC) can help you get most of the way to being in compliance with your local food safety regulations.
But it is more helpful to know what the actual requirements and regulations are in your area, since the FRFSC is only a policy guidance document that various provincial and municipal bodies use to form their own food safety and public health regulations.
While many things can make a food safety expert twitch, one thing that will do it every time is saying the word “buffet”. The additional food safety hazards that accompany buffet service are well worth paying attention to. Nobody wants to make guests sick, and disease-causing bacteria have a habit of multiplying exponentially at room temperature once they take root in food.