Tag: cross contamination

food safety is crucial for managing risk
Food Safety September 5, 2019

Why Controlling Risk Is ‘Crucial’ on-the-Job Skill

Food Safety September 5, 2019

Understanding Food Safety is Crucial for Controlling Risk Thinking of everything that can go wrong with an event is nearly impossible, but that is what meeting professionals try to do when we create contingency plans as a means to controlling risk associated with our events. Think about the Farmers Insurance “Hall of Claims” commercials showcasing things that have gone wrong — cement pouring into a car, hot air ballon landing on a parked car. It’s a clever campaign that highlights unique claims their customers have submitted. At the end of each commercial, the “voice of God” affirms their tagline: “We…

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Salad Saga: Taco Salad shell
Food Safety May 12, 2017

The Salad Saga: Food Allergy Training Needs to be Mandatory

Food Safety May 12, 2017
But, The Salad is Gluten-Free! Last week a meeting planner (MP) posted a message (below) on my Facebook feed frustrated with the response the director of catering at a large convention center (DC) was providing when she asked if the serving vessel the salad was in was actually gluten-free.  The conversation went something like this: MP: I notice that the salad is labeled gluten-free. Is that cone (vessel) the salad is being served in gluten-free as well? If it is not, then the salad is not gluten-free and the label should be corrected. DC: The salad is gluten-free. You do not have to eat…

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Worldwide Food Service Safety Month chef testing Temperature of the meat
Food Safety December 15, 2016

Worldwide Food Service Safety Month Recognizes Practices as Critical as Any Other Customer Service Standard

Food Safety December 15, 2016

Preventing Harm is Basis of Worldwide Food Service Safety Month  Every year since 1994, December marks Worldwide Food Service Safety Month. The annual observation was established to remind everyone, from the professional food service industry, to cooks at home around the world, that food safety is of supreme importance. Buying, storing, preparing, and serving food are the typical topics covered, but what does food safety really mean when it comes to serving custom eaters at our events? Hint: It’s more than remembering to wash our hands and change aprons. The Basics Let’s begin with the basics we expect to hear about:…

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Food Allergies October 11, 2016

Global Handwashing Day – It’s a Lifesaver

Food Allergies October 11, 2016

This month is packed with food related hashtag days, recognition days, and awareness days. What month isn’t, right? But this month, in particular, has a few I want to recognize. I have a few articles coming your way to help us celebrate, but this Saturday, October 15th, I am recognizing Global Handwashing Day. Now, Global Handwashing Day may not be the most glamorous sounding event, but when you stop to understand and think about it, we’re marking a day of awareness that helps to save lives! That’s right, washing hands with soap saves lives. The homepage for Global Handwashing Day…

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Food Allergies September 1, 2016

Cross-Contamination, Cross-Contact, & Food Safety at Your Event

Food Allergies September 1, 2016

Cross-contamination is a commonly understood concept. It occurs when bacteria or viruses contaminate food. It can occur during preparation and storage. Often, proper cooking will reduce or eliminate the contamination, so foodborne illness is less of a risk. Occasionally, people forget what they are doing and put their newly cooked hamburger patties on the same plate they used to hold the patties when they were raw. This just reintroduces the contamination. Luckily, professional kitchen staff are trained in the proper handling of food and risk is minimized. When discussing food allergies, we really need to be more aware of cross-contact.…

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Food Allergies Laws & Regulations December 15, 2015

Allergy Labelling in the European Union: How Confident is the Freefrom Customer when eating out?

Food Allergies Laws & Regulations December 15, 2015

Food businesses and their staff need more training to better manage the expectations of the FreeFrom customer A year ago the European Union enacted EU1169 requiring that all food served directly to consumers – pre-packaged and unpackaged – list any of the 14 food allergens they contained. Our friends at Food Allergy Training Consultancy (FATC) wanted to see how the freefrom community thought food service business were doing in meeting the regulations for allergy labelling in the European Union. Below are the results from the survey they did, reprinted with permission from Food Allergy Aware. Since the European Union introduced the Food Information Regulations…

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