CHICAGO—September marks the 17th anniversary of National Food Safety Education Month, and the National Restaurant Association announced a month-long campaign that focuses on the importance of food safety education and training for restaurant and foodservice operators, while continuing to raise awareness of the industry’s commitment to food safety.
This year's theme, "Lessons Learned from the Health Inspection," is sponsored by SCA, a global hygiene company and makers of the Tork® brand of away-from-home paper products. The National Restaurant Association selected SCA as the sponsor of the campaign due to the company's commitment to food safety education and dedication to hygiene product solutions.
"There is nothing more important than the health and safety of our guests at restaurants around the country, and National Food Safety Education Month highlights our industry's commitment to serving healthful, delicious and safe meals every day," said Dawn Sweeney, President and CEO of the National Restaurant Association. "Our industry serves 130 million guests daily, and we know that it's critical to train our employees in safe food handling practices. Through our national campaign, we encourage the nation's nearly 1 million restaurants to demonstrate their dedication to food safety."
The curriculum for National Food Safety Education Month is broken down into five weekly sessions, each stressing different food safety basics and how they apply to the health inspection process. The sessions include how to work with a health inspector; handling food; cleaning and sanitizing; proper food storage techniques; and handling utensils and equipment.
As part of this educational campaign, free weekly training activities, food safety tips and free posters are available for download at www.ServSafe.com/nfsem. All NFSEM materials are based on the National Restaurant Association's ServSafe® food safety training and certification program.
