A Safer Meal: The Importance of Food Protection Managers

DOVER, DE – A national study, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), found that restaurants with Certified Food Protection Managers (CFPMs) had fewer of most types of food safety violations. Such food managers receive special training and are responsible for monitoring and managing all food establishment operations. The CFPM must also be knowledgeable about foodborne illness symptoms, how to minimize risk factors, and how make corrective actions if necessary.

Requiring CFPMs is a proactive way to prevent foodborne illness outbreaks in public eating establishments. According to the CDC, each year one in six Americans gets food poisoning likely caused by unsafe food practices either in the home, work, school, health-care facility, food packing facility or restaurant.

The Delaware Food Code requires food establishments to have a Person-in-Charge (PIC) at the time of inspection, who is a CFPM. Because inspections in Delaware are unannounced, the food manager is required to be on duty at all times. Risk factors that contribute to foodborne illness can be minimized through training and active managerial control. A study published in Environmental Health Insights magazine suggests that restaurants with trained and certified food managers had significantly fewer critical food safety violations.

The Delaware Restaurant Association (DRA), in collaboration with the Division of Public Health (DPH), will be conducting a survey to identify the rate of food establishments complying with Certified Food Protection Manager requirements. The findings will ensure that DPH and DRA can identify those types of food establishments that require more education and outreach as it pertains to the CFPM requirements.

Certification of kitchen managers may affect foodborne illness risk factors in many ways, including better management and better on-the-job training according EHS-Net’s study and recommendations, which can be found here.

According to the DRA, challenges faced by restaurants that are trying to reduce the risk of foodborne illness outbreaks include high employee turnover and a labor force comprised of inadequately-trained employees. Employees should have an understanding of the food handling and preparation practices and should follow those practices to mitigate risk factors. CFPMs play an important role in communicating information to food workers about the best practices to reduce foodborne illnesses and should be able to effectively convey information to employees who are not certified in food safety.

DPH staff throughout Delaware work to protect consumers and monitor compliance of food establishments with the Delaware Food Code. DPH accomplishes its food safety mission through the permitting and inspecting of restaurants, mobile units, and other food establishments; educating owners, managers, and employees on food safety issues in their establishments; informing consumers on food safety; and holding activities to increase food safety in Delaware establishments.

You can access more information on the Delaware Food Code online or call 302-744-4546.

For a listing of all the CFPM courses accepted by DPH, visit the DPH website here. For a list of courses offered by the Delaware Restaurant Association, visit http://www.delawarerestaurant.org/calendar/ for a list of course dates and times or contact the DRA at 866-DRA-2545 to schedule training.

The Delaware Restaurant Association is the state trade association dedicated to promoting, protecting, and educating Delaware’s food service industry. Delaware’s 2,000 restaurants employ 50,000 people with an economic impact of over $2 billion in annual sales. Delaware Restaurants are the largest small business employer in the state and the largest component of Delaware’s tourism industry.

A person who is deaf, hard-of-hearing, deaf-blind or speech-disabled can call the DPH phone number above by using TTY services. Dial 7-1-1 or 800-232-5460 to type your conversation to a relay operator, who reads your conversation to a hearing person at DPH. The relay operator types the hearing person’s spoken words back to the TTY user. To learn more about TTY availability in Delaware, visit http://delawarerelay.com

Delaware Health and Social Services is committed to improving the quality of the lives of Delaware’s citizens by promoting health and well-being, fostering self-sufficiency, and protecting vulnerable populations. DPH, a division of DHSS, urges Delawareans to make healthier choices with the 5-2-1 Almost None campaign: eat 5 or more fruits and vegetables each day, have no more than 2 hours of recreational screen time each day (includes TV, computer, gaming), get 1 or more hours of physical activity each day, drink almost no sugary beverages.


Enjoy a Healthy and Safe Independence Day

ENJOY A HEALTHY AND SAFE INDEPENDENCE DAY

DOVER – As American flags fly in preparation of the Fourth of July holiday, the Delaware Division of Public Health (DPH) reminds Delawareans to celebrate healthily, without injuries or foodborne illness.

Serve healthy foods and beverages. Include more fruits and vegetables and fewer sugary beverages on the buffet table. With Delaware’s obesity rate doubling in the past 20 years, it is important to serve meals that are low in empty calories and heart healthy. The DE HEAL website, at www.deheal.org, features a section about sugary beverages. Or browse recipes on the American Heart Association’s website, http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/NutritionCenter/HealthyCooking/Simple-Cooking-with-Heart-Home-Page_UCM_430043_SubHomePage.jsp.

Use sunscreen. To protect skin from sunburn now and skin cancer later, wear SPF 15 or higher sunscreen that contains both UVA and UVB protection. Visit ProtectYourSkinDE.com, a DPH website filled with colorful, informative posts. The site includes a directory of dermatologists in Delaware. Follow these additional skin cancer prevention tips:
• Stay in the shade, especially during mid-day hours.
• Wear clothing that covers your arms and legs.
• Wear a hat with a wide brim to shade your face, head, ears, and neck.
• Wear sunglasses that wrap around and block both UVA and UVB rays.
• Avoid indoor tanning.
• Wear lip balm and makeup products that have an SPF of 15 or higher.

Avoid injuries. Leave fireworks displays to the experts. In Delaware, it is illegal to possess or discharge fireworks, and only permitted companies can hold fireworks displays.

Protect pets. It is best to leave pets at home, where they are safe and sound, instead of including them in Fourth of July celebrations. Loud fireworks displays can terrify pets, causing them to run, putting them at risk of being hit by a car or becoming lost. Exposure to lit fireworks and firework fumes can also be hazardous to man’s best friend.

Use common sense when grilling. Only use gas or charcoal grills outdoors, never in a garage, or on a porch or balcony. Charcoal and gas grills produce carbon monoxide, a fatal odorless, colorless, and poisonous gas. When using charcoal grills, only use a small amount of charcoal starter fuel, never add fuel once the fire starts, and wet ashes with water before emptying the grill. For gas grills, cylinders should be stored outside in a shaded, cool area out of direct sunlight and transported on the floor of vehicles ─ not the trunk ─ in an upright position with all windows open. Check connections with soapy water and tighten leaking connections if bubbles form.

Prevent foodborne illness. No one likes to get sick at a cook-out! Before preparing the meal, wash hands with soap and warm water. Thoroughly clean sinks, cutting boards, and utensils, and then sanitize them with a mixture of one teaspoon bleach to one gallon of water. Follow these additional food safety tips:
• Defrost and marinate meat and poultry in the refrigerator.
• If marinade is to be used on cooked food, reserve some marinade before putting raw foods in it.
• When transporting food, use an insulated cooler with ice or ice packs to keep food at 40F or below.
• Refrigerate food and poultry until use.
• Use separate platters for meat and poultry, and use different platters and utensils for raw and cooked items.
• Keep track of how long foods have been sitting on the buffet table and discard anything two hours or older.
• Refrigerate leftovers promptly in shallow containers.
• When cooking, have beef and poultry reach these safe minimum internal temperatures:
o Whole poultry, poultry breasts, and ground poultry – 165F.
o Hamburgers, beef, and all cuts of pork – 160F.
o Beef, veal, lamb (roasts, steaks, and chops) – 145F, medium rare.

Delaware Health and Social Services is committed to improving the quality of the lives of Delaware’s citizens by promoting health and well-being, fostering self-sufficiency, and protecting vulnerable populations. DPH, a division of DHSS, urges Delawareans to make healthier choices with the 5-2-1 Almost None campaign: eat 5 or more fruits and vegetables each day, have no more than 2 hours of recreational screen time each day (includes TV, computer, gaming), get 1 or more hours of physical activity each day, drink almost no sugary beverages.

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Rita Landgraf, Secretary
Jill Fredel, Director of Communications
302-255-9047, Cell 302-357-7498
Email: jill.fredel@delaware.gov

Delaware Health and Social ServicesDivision of Public Health


Food safety certification course offered to potential on-farm food entrepreneurs

DOVER – Agricultural entrepreneurs who want to produce certain foods in their on-farm kitchens can receive food safety training and become certified under Delaware law at an upcoming workshop jointly sponsored by the University of Delaware Cooperative Extension and the Delaware Department of Agriculture. A previously scheduled class was rescheduled due to a conflict.

The eight-hour “Food Safety for Entrepreneurs” program presented by Dr. Sue Snider of the University of Delaware will take place Saturday, March 14, at the Department of Agriculture offices near Camden, 2320 South DuPont Highway. The class will be 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Participants should arrive by 7:45 for registration and bring a bagged lunch.

Register by March 12 by contacting Debra Whitmore at debra.whitmore@delaware.gov or 302-698-4540.

Participants will learn how to identify potentially hazardous and non-potentially hazardous foods; understand foodborne pathogens and ways to control them; reduce the risk of foodborne illness; evaluate their plan for controlling potential microbial problems; and understand state regulations on farm-produced, non-potentially hazardous food items.

Those items include such things as baked breads, cakes, muffins, cookies, non-chocolate candy, jellies, jams, preserves, marmalades, fruit butters, fruit pies, herbs in vinegar, honey and herb mixtures, dried fruit and vegetables, spices or herbs, maple syrup, sorghum, popcorn, caramel corn, peanut brittle and roasted nuts.

The training, certification and inspections of farm kitchens are required under Delaware regulations adopted in 2006, and apply to farmers who wish to process non-potentially hazardous foods in their on-farm home kitchens for sale to the public at DDA-listed farmers’ markets, on their farm or at a roadside stand on or near their farm. On-farm kitchens will be inspected by appointment after participants complete the training and pass a written test.

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Contact:

Nancy Gainer, University of Delaware, 302-831-2501 (office), ngainer@udel.edu
Dan Shortridge, Delaware Department of Agriculture, 302-698-4520 (office), daniel.shortridge@delaware.gov