by Anthony S. Brunetta, Director
Brunetta Associates
If we wish to make a major impact on the prevention of food borne illnesses, it is critical that food industry managers move from the “bare bones” verbal support for food safety initiatives to active, focused leadership roles. An outstanding organization sees food safety as part of their operational culture. They provide high level training on an ongoing basis understanding that training creates positive habits. However, like the weather, many managers talk about the importance of food safety plans and employee training but few really do anything about it. Perhaps they view the prevention of foodborne illness much in the way they view a winter storm, they dislike the inconveniences it causes but feel there is little they can do to change the outcome.
Many food establishment managers are compliance oriented rather than prevention driven. They maintain minimal food safety policies and are content to pay fines or risk closure when inspections reflect less that satisfactory conditions. By their reasoning, it’s just a cost of doing business. As a result, managers are reactive dealing with post foodborne illness cleanup activities rather than pro-active in focusing on the prevention of the illnesses. These managers view health inspectors as adversaries. They reason, “Everyone knows that the principal focus of a health inspector is to put innocent food establishments out of business”. These managers tend to look for the magic bullet that will make the problem go away with the least effort.They don't want more regulations... and now comes certification.
The Department of Public Health is revising the state sanitary code to be more in line with the FDA Food Code. The new code will include provisions for food manager certification standards. I am representing MAHB on the advisory committee to the DPH working on the food manager certification segment of the code. The committee includes representatives from the food industry, regulatory agencies, testing organizations, various associations, consultants and educators. As the representative for MAHB, I have put forward the suggestions and concerns of the many health board members I have spoken to. While advisory board members overwhelmingly support a food manager certification program for Massachusetts, each has their own ideas as to what an effective program should (or should not) include and are generally reflective of what’s best for their own agendas.
According to a study of states with food manager certification regulations, little or no positive changes in food safety and sanitation practices were observed. It was found that, in many cases, owners/managers lacked the time, desire or communication skills to use the acquired knowledge effectively and to relate it to their work environment. It was recommended that food manager certification programs be supplemented with additional direct training to the food workers. This is particularly important when one considers the changing mix of food workers with language barriers and various ethnic and cultural backgrounds.
For some managers, food manager certification may be the stimulus to move to higher levels of food safety and sanitation in their establishments. For others, a food manager certification certificate will only serve to show they have met a regulatory requirement. How the final standards are written, applied and monitored will ultimately affect the success of the program. Whatever form the final draft ultimately takes, food manager certification regulations will happen in Massachusetts.
The author can be contacted by phone (978) 688-8745, fax (978)-687-6808, or email brunetta@worldnet.att.net.