A food handling certificate is important for a career as a food plant and operations manager, a quality assurance manager, a chef, or any other role in a restaurant team. When working in a restaurant, your food handling certificate will give you the right knowledge to ensure that food is handled and prepared safely so that your restaurant passes its food inspection. The exact rules for food safety differ across Canada and can be handled by provincial governments, municipalities or regional health authorities. Toronto, for example, uses its own DineSafe regulation which adheres to both Ontario’s food safety regulations and Toronto’s municipal codes. According to these guidelines, there are numerous best practices in food safety that should always be considered no matter where you are.
Continue reading to discover what to expect from restaurant inspections and how to prepare using food handling knowledge.
Food Handling Certification in Toronto Will Teach You How to Control Temperatures
One of the most important elements of ensuring the safety of food is controlling the food’s temperature. For example, pork should always be cooked and re-heated to a minimum of 71 degrees Celsius and kept above 60 degrees Celsius to remain out of the dreaded bacteria-encouraging danger zone. The danger zone is a temperature range between 4 degrees Celsius and 60 degrees Celsius that encourages bacteria to grow very quickly. Due to this, foods that are being kept cold should be kept at 4 degrees Celsius or less while frozen food should be kept below -18 degrees Celsius. As you complete your food handling certificate you’ll learn which temperatures are optimal for storing different meats, vegetables, and other food items.
Pork should be cooked to a minimum of 71 degrees Celsius to ensure safety
Graduates from a Food Handling Course Know Hand Washing is Crucial for Food Safety
Every restaurant must have both hot and cold running water, soap and paper towels at all of the hand washing stations within the restaurant, and hands are expected to be thoroughly washed before and after handling. If employees have long hair, you’ll also need to advise them to put it up and cover it with a hair net to avoid hairs getting into a customer’s meals. By following these important personal hygiene rules, you’ll be able to ensure that your restaurant meets local safety standards.
A Food Handling Certificate Holder Will Know the Ins And Outs of Food Safety
Aside from temperatures and hand washing, there is a lot of other information that students in a food handling course will learn. A few very important considerations that should be kept in mind as part of maintaining safety is to keep food at least 15 cm off the ground on racks, pallets, or shelves. It’s also important for food handlers to cover all foods with plastic wrap or lids, keep all areas that come into contact with food clean at all times, and make sure that you maintain good ventilation. This last point is especially important, as fumes from cooking can be harmful to employee health and must be vented from the restaurant as quickly as possible.
To effectively prepare for a restaurant inspection, a food handling professional must keep a lot in mind to ensure that a passing grade is achieved. A food handling certificate can prepare students for taking lead roles in maintain the health and safety of a restaurant’s food and in turn, keep their customers both safe and satisfied.
Want to take your career to the next level by becoming a food handling expert with food safety certification in Toronto?
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