Servsafe Certification - Chapter 3: Contamination, food allergens, and foodborne illness.

The contaminants that cause the biggest threats to general safety.

Physical and chemical contaminants.

The best way to ensure contaminants stay out of the kitchen.

Communication through labels, meetings, and reminders.

Times during foodservice that are prone to communication errors.

Shift changes.

Two examples of physical contaminants.

Metal shavings, fish bones.

Symptoms of physical contamination.

Cuts, dental damage, and choking.

Ways to avoid physical contamination.

Purchase from reputable suppliers, inspect received food, devise safety procedures, ensure staff practice good personal hygiene.

Potential approved sources of chemical contamination.

Cleaners, sanitizers, polishes, machine lubricants, pesticides, deodorizers, first-aid products, health/beauty products.

Kitchen tools that can cause chemical contamination.

Kitchenware made from pewter, copper, zinc, and painted pottery can contaminate acidic food.

Ways to prevent chemical contamination.

Purchase chemicals from reputable suppliers, store chemicals away from prep areas, food storage and service areas, follow manufacturer directions for chemical use, only handle food with equipment approved for foodservice use, ensure chemical labels are readable, follow manufacturer recommendations and legal requirements when disposing of chemicals.

The one place to 100% never store chemicals.

Above food.

Areas of focus for people who might seek to deliberately contaminate food.

Specific items, processes, and businesses.

The type of program that uses the ALERT acronym.

Food Defense Programs use ALERT to prevent deliberate contamination.

The words that form the ALERT acronym.

Assure, Look, Employees, Reports, Threats.

Description of “Assure” from the ALERT acronym.

Assure products are safe by using approved sources, inspecting deliveries, and ensuring delivery trucks are locked.

Description of “Look” from the ALERT acronym.

Look to monitor the security of products, limit and lock access to prep and storage areas, create systems for handling damaged products, and store chemicals in secure, monitorable locations.

Description of “Employees” from the ALERT acronym.

Employees should be reputable and safe. Ensure all visitors are identified, only employees can enter prep areas, and conduct background checks on staff.

Description of “Reports” from the ALERT acronym.

Keep receiving logs, maintain office files and documents, create staff files, conduct random food defense self-inspections.

Description of “Threats” from the ALERT acronym.

Hold any product you suspect is tampered with until a regulatory authority is contacted. Maintain an emergency contact list.

Food Allergen

A protein in a food or ingredient that causes a harmful reaction from a guest.

Symptoms of food allergies.

Nausea, wheezing and shortness of breath, hives or itchy rashes, swelling of eyes, feet and body, diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain, itchy throat. Can occur right after food is eaten or hours later.

Anaphylaxis

A severe allergic reaction that can escalate from other allergy systems. Always call emergency services if a patient with allergens is experiencing an allergic reaction.

The Big Nine (concept)

The nine food items that cause over 90 percent of allergic reactions in the United States.

The Big Nine (list)

Milk, soy, eggs, wheat, fish, crustacean shellfish, peanuts, tree nuts, sesame.

The number of Americans that have food allergies.

15,000,000

The number of emergency room visits caused by allergens each year.

200,000

The number of staff members who can answer menu questions about food allergens on staff during any period.

1

Actions a staff member who can answer menu questions about food allergens must be able to perform.

Describe the preparation and ingredients of all menu items including sauces, marinades, and garnishes; suggest menu items a guest with a given allergy might not be allergic to; identify the special allergen order in the kitchen with standardized markings; deliver food to guests with allergens by themselves.

Cross-contact

When food that contains a guest’s allergen comes in contact with food that would not normally contain their allergen.

Common ways cross-contact occurs.

Cooking different types of food in the same fryer oil, letting food touch the same equipment that food with allergens have touched.

Allergens food labels are required to disclose.

The Big Nine.

Ways staff can avoid cross-contact.

Check recipes and ingredient labels to confirm allergies are not present; wash, rinse, and sanitize cooking utensils before prepping orders for guests with allergens; ensure foods with an allergen do not come in contact with dedicated equipment; use separate fryers and cooking oils for guests with allergies; label food that is packaged onsite for retail sale.