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R. H. LINTON, Dept. of Food Science, Purdue Univ., 745 Agriculture Mall Dr., West Lafayette, IN 47907-2009 The importance of effective food handling practices at retail food establishments provides an essential component for assuring safe food since this is the last link in the food chain. In response, many States now have mandatory requirements for retail food safety manager’s certification and/or training programs. Effective education and training are important prerequisites for success and there still is a need. Cooperative Extension programs can provide an important source for training. Programs such as ServSafe, SuperSafeMark, and Essentials of Food Safety and Sanitation are now being offered with American National Standard Institute-accredited food protection manager’s certification examinations. These programs are based on the Food and Drug Administration’s Food Code recommendations and Conference for Food Protection standards. At Purdue University, we have created an Extension training network to develop and deliver a wide variety of retail food safety programs. Train-the-trainer programs are offered to Extension Specialists and local health department staff. Partnerships with State restaurant and grocery store associations have also been formed. In turn, training is provided to end users by Extension Educators and health department professionals with marketing assistance from State associations. Several programs have been developed, in English and Spanish, through the partnership including customized two-, eight-, and sixteen- hour programs for restaurant and supermarket operations. Retail food manager certification programs are offered to over 1000 individuals each year with a 95% passing rate. “Food Safety Day” is one of our most successful programs. It was developed to teach basic food safety practices to retail handlers and reaches nearly 7000 people each year. A website has been developed specifically for Extension staff to help them better develop and deliver their programs. Determining impact of programs has also been an important initiative. We now can determine immediate impact electronically for Extension Educators via data submission on the Internet.
Session 7, Outreach to the hospitality and foodservice industry
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