Back to school: September is time to enroll your business in food safety education month

Nation's Restaurant News, Sept 4, 2000 by John Farquharson

Food safety education and training may well be the most important function that takes place in any restaurant or foodservice establishment, not just in the United States but throughout the world. That is why the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation's International Food Safety Council named September "National Food Safety Education Month" six years ago. This year's theme is "Be Smart. Keep Foods Apart. Don't Cross-Contaminate."

The goal of that month-long food safety effort is to focus attention on the foodservice industry's commitment to serving safe food. It also seeks to heighten the awareness of the importance of food-safety education and encourage food-safety training for all industry employees. National Food Safety Education Month reiterates the unwavering and nonnegotiable commitment the restaurant industry has to eliminate food-borne illness.

We are honored to have Marcel Desaulniers, executive chef and owner of the Trellis Restaurant in Williamsburg, Va., as this year's chairman. His enthusiasm for the restaurant industry is a great asset to this national awareness and education initiative. He is the co-host of the new PBS series "The Grilling Maestros." In 1994 he received the highly coveted Silver Plate Award from the International Foodservice Manufacturers Association.

Desaulniers also wrote seven cookbooks, including "Death by Chocolate," which has sold more than 300,000 copies worldwide and won the James Beard Best Baking and Desserts Cookbook Award. His popular television cooking series, "Death by Chocolate," premiered in September 1993 on The Learning Channel. As chairman of National Food Safety Education Month, Desaulniers will help to communicate the importance of food safety education to the industry and build continued awareness of the restaurant and foodservice industry's commitment to serving safe food.

Our industry understands the importance of consistently evaluating and improving proper food-safety practices. The Educational Foundation has demonstrated such understanding and commitment through the International Food Safety Council's initiatives. An example was the first International Food Safety Congress, held in Orlando, Fla., in July. It drew more than 300 attendees representing 14 different countries to discuss food-safety standards.

The council feels strongly that education and training are the keys to eliminating food-borne illness. The support you and your colleagues give the foundation strengthens our resolve to continue to press on toward our goal of training 1 million foodservice professionals annually by 2005.

While last year the campaign was directed largely at consumers, this year it will focus exclusively on the industry. The theme "Be Smart. Keep Foods Apart. Don't Cross-Contaminate" was chosen to help restaurateurs better promote food safety and better prevent food-borne illnesses. I am proud to say that this year we have more restaurants, foodservice operators, distributors, supermarkets, hospitality associations, colleges and universities, and state and local health agencies across the country spreading the word about the importance of food safety education than ever before.

If you are not already involved with this year's awareness campaign, it is never too late to join. The council has created an easy "how-to" training and promotion guide that can be downloaded directly from our Web site to help your organization actively participate in National Food Safety Education Month.

John Farquharson, FMP, is president of the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation International Food Safety Council. The council created National Food Safety Education Month in 1995.