Helping Retailers Deliver SafeMark Food Safety Training

<div> <p paraid="1911356459" paraeid="{3d0be6c7-4318-4c26-8235-527d176b2ddc}{18}">By Gwen Lee, Senior Manager, Food Safety&nbsp;Programs, FMI&nbsp;</p> </div> <div> <p paraid="918275415" paraeid="{3d0be6c7-4318-4c26-8235-527d176b2ddc}{22}"><img src="https://www.fmi.org/images/default-source/blog-images/fmi_foodsafety-mask-5.tmb-large-350-.jpg?sfvrsn=b282f85_1" data-displaymode="Thumbnail" alt="FMI_FoodSafety Mask[5]" title="FMI_FoodSafety Mask[5]" style="float: right; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px;" />In a recent survey&nbsp;of FMI members,&nbsp;there&nbsp;was overwhelming support for employees&nbsp;across their organizations&nbsp;to receive food safety training. In fact,&nbsp;92% of retailers believe that&nbsp;it is important for store associates take a retail-specific food safety training&nbsp;program.&nbsp;FMI is proud to deliver the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fmi.org/safemark/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">SafeMark&reg;</a>&nbsp;Food&nbsp;Handler and&nbsp;Food&nbsp;Manager training&nbsp;programs&nbsp;&ndash;&nbsp;programs&nbsp;developed by retailers, for retailers.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> </div> <div> <h5>Food Handler Training&nbsp;</h5> </div> <div> <p paraid="1548001328" paraeid="{3d0be6c7-4318-4c26-8235-527d176b2ddc}{102}">The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fmi.org/safemark/food-handler-training" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">FMI&nbsp;SafeMarkFood&nbsp;Handler online training</a>&nbsp;is designed to help food workers understand the why,&nbsp;what&nbsp;and&nbsp;how to prevent food contamination in the food establishment.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> </div> <div> <p paraid="273093689" paraeid="{3d0be6c7-4318-4c26-8235-527d176b2ddc}{140}">With&nbsp;the&nbsp;SafeMark&nbsp;Food Handler Online&nbsp;course&nbsp;users will learn to apply food safety principles directly to the task of preventing food contamination and recognize the steps needed to protect the safety of food.&nbsp;</p> </div> <div> <h5>Food Manager Training&nbsp;</h5> </div> <div> <p paraid="1206605502" paraeid="{3d0be6c7-4318-4c26-8235-527d176b2ddc}{164}"><a href="https://www.fmi.org/safemark/manager-training" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">FMI&rsquo;s&nbsp;SafeMark&nbsp;Food Protection Manager Training course</a>&nbsp;provides supermarket managers and supervisors with the knowledge to train and oversee food handlers, function as reliable food safety resources at their&nbsp;establishments&nbsp;and&nbsp;prepare for the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fmi.org/safemark/certification" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Certified Food Protection Manager exam</a>.&nbsp;</p> </div> <div> <p paraid="1926702104" paraeid="{3d0be6c7-4318-4c26-8235-527d176b2ddc}{196}">The course can be customized to prepare learners for your state&rsquo;s certified food protection manager exam or to receive approval by your state&rsquo;s Department of Health or Department of Agriculture.&nbsp;</p> </div> <div> <h5>Preparing for the Future&nbsp;</h5> </div> <div> <p paraid="1190556067" paraeid="{3d0be6c7-4318-4c26-8235-527d176b2ddc}{208}">Every four years,&nbsp;the Food and&nbsp;Drug Administration (FDA)&nbsp;updates&nbsp;the model&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fda.gov/media/110822/download" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">FDA&nbsp;Food Code</a>&nbsp;to&nbsp;help jurisdictions across the country&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fmi.org/blog/view/fmi-blog/2018/03/25/the-fda-food-code-a-model-for-food-safety-best-practices" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">adopt uniform food safety standards</a>&nbsp;and help protect public health.&nbsp;We anticipate the next&nbsp;edition of the&nbsp;Food Code&nbsp;to be published later in 2021.&nbsp;To support food&nbsp;retailers&nbsp;throughout the country, the FMI Food Safety team is prepared to update&nbsp;the&nbsp;SafeMark&nbsp;Food&nbsp;Handler and&nbsp;Food&nbsp;Manager training materials to be consistent with&nbsp;all&nbsp;future&nbsp;updates to the&nbsp;Food&nbsp;Code, as well as&nbsp;state and local food safety requirements.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> </div> <div> <h5>Celebrate&nbsp;Retail&nbsp;Food&nbsp;Safety&nbsp;Heroes on Supermarket Employee Day&nbsp;</h5> </div> <div> <p paraid="1215206251" paraeid="{2a15a680-23cb-4c3c-a4db-307544290331}{74}">Another component of cultivating a strong food safety culture is recognizing positive food safety behaviors&nbsp;and&nbsp;delivering&nbsp;consistent training. When employees&nbsp;get recognized, it not only reinforces positive food safety behaviors but demonstrates management commitment to food safety. &nbsp;</p> </div> <div> <p paraid="467837006" paraeid="{2a15a680-23cb-4c3c-a4db-307544290331}{94}">On February 22, 2021, please join FMI in celebrating retail food safety heroes on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fmi.org/get-involved/supermarket-employee-day" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Supermarket Employee Day</a>.&nbsp;Food&nbsp;retail employees&nbsp;are on the front line of defense in the food establishment&rsquo;s battle to prevent food contamination of their products&nbsp;and&nbsp;to&nbsp;&nbsp;help demonstrate strong hygienic standards to customers.&nbsp;Even during simultaneous natural disasters and pandemics, food retail employees continue to hone their food safety skills and expand their knowledge to protect public health.&nbsp;Thank you for joining&nbsp;FMI in giving our sincerest thanks to all food safety heroes who&nbsp;play a critical role in&nbsp;feeding&nbsp;families and enriching&nbsp;lives.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> </div> <div> <p paraid="467326946" paraeid="{59a02285-76a8-4e59-9b75-f5e3faf0820f}{151}">SafeMark&nbsp;training can be customized to fit the unique needs of your organization.&nbsp;To learn more about&nbsp;SafeMark&nbsp;training&nbsp;programs, please contact&nbsp;<a href="mailto:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> </div>