Those who work in the food service industry understand the importance of proper food handling and food safety. The standards in this line of work are stringent because of the nature of the business. Restaurant and other commercial food preparation businesses must consider restaurant food safety as a top priority.
Through food handling courses, participants can learn about food and sanitation, methods for proper handling food and can even earn food safety certification or food handlers permit online. These online courses provide engaging testing and training about important food handler issues from personal hygiene, cross contamination to time and temperature abuse.
A food handling course can dispel certain food and sanitation myths such as frozen foods, once thawed, cannot be refrozen. It is indeed true that they can be, as long as they thawing process takes place in a refrigerator or cooler and not at room temperature where bacteria can grow.
Such food handling courses are designed to train employees, both beginner and skilled, about the dangers of improper food handling or food abuse. If salmonellosis, an illness caused by salmonella bacterium, is present, it can be devastating to food related businesses. It is estimated that the illness costs the industry about $2.65 billion annually. Another toxic bacterium associated with improper food handling is E.coli, which produces a deadly toxin. It is responsible for about 73,000 cases of foodborne illness each year in the U.S. It can develop in raw and undercooked foods and liquids such as beef, milk and unpasteurized juices. Improper food care or handling can also result in Botulism, a potentially fatal illness that can incubate in improperly prepared home canned food.
