Introduction to the NFSTP National Food Safety Training Program Welcome to the Canadian Restaurant & Foodservice’s National Food Safety Training Program. This interactive training program is designed to provide food safety training and certification for food handlers in Canada’s diverse foodservice and hospitality industry.

Our Goal To ensure food handlers have the information they require to prepare and serve safe food. The National Food Safety Training Program strives to make it easy for every restaurant owner, manager, and employee to access, understand and ensure customer food safety.

Learning Objectives Canada’s food safety legislation; Working with Health Authorities; Understand the impact of foodborne illness in Canada; Identify the consequences of poor food handling; Understand the benefits of food safety programs; Seven steps to ensuring safe food. In this session we will explore Canada’s system for developing food safety legislation and how it will impact on your operations. The number of illness’s and their cost to individuals, business and healthcare is staggering.   Foodservice operators suffer severe consequences when their business is associated with a foodborne illness outbreak. There are benefits that go beyond food safety in foodservices with proper training and implementation of programs. We recommend seven steps that will help your business improve safe food handling.

Introduction to Food Safety Legislation Federal Government Provincial Government Municipal Government Food safety legislation in Canada is created at three levels of Government. Federal Government: At this level the Canadian Food Inspection Agency is responsible for the development of the Food Retail and Food Services (FRFS) Code and regulation. This is not a law - but it is a set of recommendations to provinces and municipalities to help them draft legislation related to food safety. [You may want to have a copy of the document to share.] Provincial Government: At the provincial level governments develop a Health Act (or something equivalent to that). This Health Act provides legislation to cover many areas including food service premises. Municipal Government: In some cases, particularly in larger cities, you will have local legislation enforced by municipally employed Public Health Inspectors or Environmental Health Officers. You must comply with any provincial and local health authorities in this case. [You may want to have a copy of the local food premises legislation]

Health Inspector's Role Your Public Health Inspector has important responsibilities when working with foodservice operators: to enforce legislation ensuring the safety of the public; provide advice and training to help food handlers keep food safe; and provide a written report identifying any concerns. Take advantage of the resources they offer.

The Legislation Legislation related to food premises covers: The construction, design and facilities. Food handling, preparation and service. Equipment and utensils. Cleaning and Sanitation. Pest Control. Employee and Visitor Illness and Injury. Food Safety Training and Certification. Food Safety Program Management.

Inspections Here are some steps to follow during an inspection: Confirm the Inspector's name. Give your complete support. Take note of any suggestions. Provide records as requested. Ask questions about any items on the inspection report. Follow up by addressing any deficiencies.

Complaints Collect the following information if a customer complains about getting sick after eating in your establishment: Their name, address, and phone number; What they ate; When they ate it (i.e. date and time); If there were other people in their party. Employees should notify the manager if there is a complaint about food safety. Take all complaints seriously. Don't give medical advice. Contact the Health Authorities.

Foodborne Illness in Canada 4 million cases of foodborne illness each year 39 thousand people hospitalized 600 deaths $2 billion expense for our healthcare system The average person gets sick from food 15 times in their life Most cases of the "24-hour flu" are in fact foodborne illness. You might ask, "If foodborne illness is so common, why don't we hear about it more often from our customers, in the news or from health authorities?“ Very few cases of foodborne illness is reported to health care authorities – most go un-reported. Since most cases go undiagnosed, they are not tracked or reported. Therefore, foodborne illness has been largely overlooked in the past.

High Risk Populations Perhaps you, or someone you know, has a young child or older family member. It is hard to accept that improper preparation of food could cause them serious, lifelong illness or even worse -death! Very young children have not developed their immune system enough to fight some foodborne illnesses. This can result in permanent damage to their organs or death. Women can become very sick and lose their baby if they become ill from food during pregnancy. When people are sick their immune system is already working hard and the additional stress of foodborne illness can be very serious. Medications such as antibiotics or others that affect the immune system can make people more vulnerable to foodborne illness. As people age their immune system can weaken leaving them less able to fight off illness.

The Cost of Poor Food Handling Your foodservice operation could face: Legal costs Increased insurance & other operating costs Lost customers Closed businesses Staff turnover Bankruptcy Lost jobs Increased sampling and testing of food products, DNA fingerprinting of "illness-causing" bacteria, and high-profile food and waterborne illnesses in Canada and the United States have placed a spotlight on foodborne illness. Governments and consumer groups are now requiring farmers, food processors, retailers and foodservice operators to increase their diligence around the management of food safety.

Benefits of Food Safety Programs Helps reduce the risk of foodborne illness Reduces illness related employee absence Improves employee pride in the operation Certification provides greater employment opportunities Helps prevent the loss of business reputation Gives customers greater confidence The good news is foodborne illness and its associated results are preventable. This food safety training and certification is a practical tool for foodservice operators who want to manage these food safety risks and help protect their customers.

Seven Steps to Food Safety Food Safety Education Take Notes Self Audit Make a List Create an Action Plan Involve Your Team Implement Start by completing the NFSTP training and certification program. This will help you understand why certain practices are important, what needs to be done to keep food safe and how you can improve safe food handling. As you progress through the training take notes about what must be done to keep food safe in your operation. Ask yourself, "What am I learning that we are not doing in our operation?“ Go back to your foodservice operation and do a 'self audit'. Find out if your foodservice is doing everything required to keep the food safe. Make a list of items that need to be changed to improve your food handling. Be sure to include every part of your business from purchasing to how your staff serves the food and everything in between. Create an action plan that will ensure all missing food safety practices are put in place over a specific period of time. The plan might include the development and implementation of record keeping systems, standards, procedures and policies. Talk to your team about what needs to be changed. Explain why it is important to practice food safety and how they can help. You may need to do some specific training to help each person understand how to perform the new job responsibilities. Put your plan in to action. Review it every three or four weeks to determine if any changes in equipment, facilities, people, menu items or external services have created new risks that need to be managed.

Session Summary Follow the laws related to food safety. Health Authorities will work with you. Foodborne illness is costly to our society. Poor food handling has serious consequences for your business. Implementing food safety programs offer benefits to your foodservice. You can start by taking seven steps to ensuring safe food. In summary: You must follow the laws that affect your foodservice operation. These are developed by the provincial and municipal governments. Your Health Inspector is able to help you with your operation. Ask them about food safety issues you don’t understand. Millions of Canadians get sick from food every year – hundreds die! Your business could close and you could lose your job if safe food handling is not practiced. Everyone benefits from safer food and your foodservice operation will benefit too. Start working on your action plan to implement safer food handling practices.

Quiz Do the quiz from the end of this section of the Student Workbook.