IDDBA Offers Free ServSafe Certification at June Expo
With food safety training and education deemed as one of the single most critical topics for grocery store fresh food teams, the International Dairy-Deli-Bakery Association IDDBA is offering a free ServSafe certification class to Dairy-Deli-Bake attendees.
The free ServSafe certification program is a key component of Safe Food Matters!, IDDBA's year-long campaign to build awareness about food safety.
“Food safety is an important pillar of IDDBA’s mission to help dairy, deli, and bakery departments operate more successfully and to help provide safe products to their customers," said Mary Kay O’Connor, IDDBA's VP of education. “We’re pleased to help industry professionals further their food safety knowledge by offering this highly regarded and respected certification class.”
The ServSafe certification class and exam, which will be offered at no charge to attendees of IDDBA's annual Dairy-Deli-Bake Expo, will take place June 10 at the Omni Atlanta Hotel at CNN Center, which is located nearby the Georgia World Conference Center.The class will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with the exam to follow. Lunch will be provided.
Administered by the National Restaurant Association Education Foundation, ServSafe is a food and beverage safety training and certificate program accredited by the American Standards Institute and the Conference for Food Protection.
Conducting the class will be certified instructor and proctor Chris Koch, an associate adjunct professor at Drexel University’s School of Sports Management and Hospitality in Philadelphia. Koch is also a certified trainer for Instruis Publishing’s S.U.R.E. HACCP program and a food safety consultant for WTFX Fox 29 in Philadelphia. A certified instructor of ServSafe manager’s food safety and food handler programs for more than 15 years, Koch brings a unique perspective to food safety training by combining a number of different media designed to reach a broad spectrum of students.
As noted above, the free certification class is a main component of IDDBA’s year-long Safe Food Matters! campaign to build awareness about specific food safety practices that retailers can implement in service departments to sell safe food. This year’s initiative focuses on helping to reduce the possibility of growth and cross-contamination of Listeria monocytogenes in fresh departments, especially delis. Listeria monocytogenes is a bacteria that causes listeriosis, a potentially life-threatening condition responsible for approximately 16,000 infections and 260 deaths annually.
Information on Safe Food Matters!, including training and education resources, is available here.
The free certification class is open to 70 Dairy-Deli-Bake Seminar and Expo attendees only. For more information and to register, contact Jeremy Johnson or call 608-310-5000.