Canada’s National Food Safety Training Program trains and certifies employees working in food service establishments—including full service, quick-service, independent, and chains—to meet the national food safety standards. If you own a business in the food service sector, then it’s very important to invest in these training programs for your workers. After all, there is simply no room for unsafe practices in an environment that deals with food handling. Food prepared in unsafe ways can cause serious health conditions arising from salmonella, norovirus, e-coli, etc.  Ensuring that your employees are up to date with the most recent food and safety regulations lets you avoid risks and liability.  It also offers many other benefits:

1. Reduces food poisoning risks

Even just one case of food poisoning can ruin your food business.  Not only can it lead to bad reviews but also hefty fines, and in some cases, even closure.  Improper storage, undercooking, cross contamination, and person-to-person contact can contaminate food. So, you must strictly avoid even a single instance of poor food handling at your establishment. Enrolling your employees in a National Food Safety Training Program will give them the knowledge and skills they need to prevent these issues from happening.

2. Reduces waste

Did you know that food safety and hygiene training can help you improve your overall quality control measures?  Properly trained staff can ensure that less food is lost, contaminated, or spilled due to poor handling. When they know how to safety store, handle and cook food, there are less chances of food contamination, which means less food will be wasted. That can decrease wastage and ultimately helps your business become more profitable. This is why it makes sense to get your team equipped with the right type of knowledge using a goof food safety training program.

3. Improves behaviours

With the constant application of food safety practices, your staff learns to approach food-handling in a way that hygiene and sanitation can become a second nature. This way, they can develop good habits of safe food handling, which results in more client satisfaction as well as better brand image in the market.

4. Gives employees a better appreciation and understanding of their roles

It’s not uncommon for employees to feel resentful for having to follow safety processes in food handling and cleaning.  But when you enroll them in a proper National Food Safety Training Program, they will understand that they are directly responsible for the safety and health of each customer.  It gives them a better appreciation not only of their job but also of their role in the bigger community.

The law requires all food business operators to give their employees appropriate instruction for safe food handling—which means investing in a National Food Safety Training Program.  Middle and upper management, head chefs, hygiene trainers, and other such senior staff members need to undergo food safety training so that they can relay the knowledge and skills they gain to all other staff who also handle food.