I just took a course to be a certified food manager. What
does that mean? Every restaurant needs one person on staff who is certified.
This person is responsible for ensuring that food stays safe throughout the
restaurants operation. We are kind of like the food police.
I was initially excited for the course because I thought
it’d be like the motorcycle class I took a few years back. There is no way to get that range of people in
one room other than for something like motorcycles. In that class, I took a
quiz with the guy next to me on motorcycle safety. He reasoned the answers based on knowledge he
learned in jail (so he kept saying). I sat behind a young lady who had a tattoo
on the back of her neck which I swore was a particular lady part that I’m too
shy to write here. I was hoping for similar fun in the Food Manager course.
It was a day-long course. Our instructor was eager, young
and had spent 7 years training at McDonalds. The highlight? Drawing pictures of
puke and toilets to illustrate common symptoms of Salmonella. The painful part?
An afternoon of one cheesy video after another. Nothing like my motorcycle
course that included riding a 250cc bike around an obstacle course.
Having no professional background in food service (not sure
my stint in the kitchen at Pizza Hut as a teenager counts), I must admit the
content of the class was very useful. I learned about the danger zone for food,
41 to 135 F. Dangerous pathogens grow during this time and so you cannot let
food sit in this zone for more than four hours (and ideally no hours). I
learned about the foods most likely to be contaminated, let’s just say most
here. They shared how to store food to ensure that if there is cross
contamination it can be cooked off. And then, of course, the memorization part;
required heat level and cooking time for different food items to eliminate bad
bacteria. Whew!
The make up of the class was also not as exciting as I had
hoped. It ranged from a 35 year White Castle employee and a couple folks from
Mickey’s Diner (that seemed very concerned about how long you can leave eggs
out), to a resort cook from northern Minnesota. The latter gentleman enjoyed
sharing his kitchen “war stories” which the instructor did not know how to
curtail. I think that added an hour to the course throughout the day.
Honestly, they should have let me just read the book and
test on it. The sections on basic hygiene and pest management can be
shortened to, “Don’t be gross,” and, “Call a professional.” The cleaning and
sanitizing section I learned in 5 minutes doing dishes at Piccolo. As much as
it’s important, it’s not rocket science ( I wonder what rocket scientists compare their jobs to?).
Most of what we covered is easy to expect of an
establishment. Sandcastle can easily build in simple processes to ensure our
food remains safe. However it is concerning that some of the suggestions to
ensure food safety would preclude buying local and possibly even fresh. I also
could not help but think about time spent in homes in other countries (remember
that was my past career, I’m not being pretentious), and how it’s customary to
leave food out all the time. Okay, maybe not in restaurants (but maybe there
too actually). So a part of me thinks about how over-sanitized we can be. Yet,
the rule follower in me will be sure to comply with all regulations!
