FMI Updates SafeMark Training

MARK HAMSTRA

ARLINGTON, Va. — Food Marketing Institute here has updated a popular food-safety training program to reflect the most recent guidance from the Food and Drug Administration and to reach a broader base of food workers.

The Food Safety Fundamentals training program was released last week as the only food-safety training program containing information that reflects the new FDA 2009 Food Code, according to Jill Hollingsworth, group vice president of food-safety programs at FMI.

“Other training programs tend to be specific by industry, but we have tried to make this applicable for everyone, regardless of what industry they are in,” she told SN last week.

The textbook and training materials provide food-safety education for any workers who prepare, handle or cook food, whether they are employed by supermarkets, convenience stores, restaurants or institutional foodservice establishments like hospitals and nursing homes.

The previous incarnation of FMI's training program, called the Super SafeMark Guide to Food Safety, was offered for about six years, but demand for training was strong among non-supermarket channels, Hollingsworth explained.

“In order to meet that need, we decided to come out with a broader level of food-safety training, and we call that now the SafeMark program for food-safety training courses,” she said.

The original program, offered both in print and online, was very popular — some 31,000 workers per year were taking the companion certification exam through the program, Hollingsworth said, and more people may have studied the program without taking the exam.

Among the changes in the FDA Food Code was the addition of cut tomatoes and cut leafy greens to the category of foods that require special care to prevent foodborne illness. These foods, previously called “potentially hazardous foods,” have now been reclassified as “time/temperature control for safety,” or TCS.

The Food Code now states that both cut tomatoes and cut leafy greens must be stored at 41 degrees Fahrenheit or below, and cannot be held at a higher temperature for more than four hours (the time it takes bacteria to form).

In addition, the updated FDA Food Code also reclassifies food-safety inspection findings according to risk, with three designations: “priority,” “priority foundation” and “core,” reflecting the urgency, in descending order, for establishments to take action on violations. Previous inspection violations were either “critical” or “non-critical.”

The Food Safety Fundamentals training book is offered for $35, and a companion training kit for instructors is offered for $175. The course is not yet available in an online version.