When I walk into a restaurant, I look for certificates on the wall. I know most folks are
looking for menus and specials, but these certificates tell me a lot about the food safety culture of this establishment. As a food safety instructor there are three certificates I seek: the inspection score, a Golden A Award and Food Safety Manager Certifications.
The inspection score. These are grades given to restaurants during an inspection by a sanitarian from our local Environmental Health Section of the Brunswick County Health Department. The number of times a food service establishment is inspected each year is based on several things including the population they serve and the difficulty of their food preparation. The score reflects what was happening on the day the inspector was there.
If you’re like me and pay attention to these, you don’t have to wait to get to the
restaurant to learn the grades. Inspection scores are available on-line at Environmental Health’s website. For those that really want to see the nitty gritty, an actual copy of the inspection report is also posted.
Golden A Award. This is a special recognition given for excellence by the Environmental Health Section here in Brunswick County. To give you a little perspective on this, in 2023 there were 533 food service establishments in this county that were inspected. This includes restaurants, food stands, meat markets, senior sites, institutional food services, nursing home dietary, pushcarts, mobile food units and school lunchrooms. Of them, 357 (or 67%) got a 95% or above on all of their inspections that year. A great accomplishment and shows we have a lot of establishments in this county doing a great job. These locations get a special certificate to hang on the wall for achieving this status.
Even more impressive are Platinum A certificates. These awards are given to operations that have received a Golden A Award for five years in a row. In 2023 there were 185 Platinum A awards given. The Golden A and Platinum A awardees for 2024 should be announced this spring. These winners are also listed on the Environmental Health’s website. These awards show consistent excellence in food safety and sanitation practices.
Food Safety Manager Certification. When I’m looking at certificates on the wall, I’d like see those that show the management team has taken some food safety training. The NC Food Code as well as the Food and Drug Administration’s Model Food Code requires food service establishments to have a designated Person in Charge (PIC) during all hours of operation. This PIC should have taken food safety training and be a Certified Food Protection Manager.
To become a Certificated Food Protection Manager the PIC must have knowledge of
food safety practices. To show this proficiency in food safety they need to pass an
American National Standards Institute (ANSI) test. There are several different testing
programs and these tests are not easy. Most restaurants post these certificates with
pride.
If an establishment does not have a Certified Food Protection Manager in-charge when the inspection is being done, they will lose points on the inspection score. A trained PIC should understand the principles of food safety needed to keep the food they serve safe and also to share this knowledge with staff and co-workers. This is the food safety culture of the establishment.
The Family and Consumer Science team from our N.C. Cooperative Extension here in
Brunswick County has trained many of these Certified Food Safety Managers. We have an evidence-based program designed at NC State that provides training on food safety standards for managing food safety in a food service operation. The class is called Safe Plates. After taking the Safe Plates class and successfully passing an exam the participants receive their Food Safety Manager Certification.
If you’re in a food service business and need to be trained or you’re a manager and
would like your staff members trained to be a Certified Food Safety Manager, we have a Safe Plates class coming up later this month.
Our Safe Plates class will be held at the Southport Oak Island Chamber of Commerce on Long Beach Road in Southport. The registration fee for this class is $125. This includes the training book, all handout materials, instruction and the certification test.
For details, visit the Safe Plates section of the N.C. Cooperative Extension Brunswick
County Center’s website. To register contact our office at the Government Center in
Bolivia.
Syracuse is a Family and Consumer Science team member and can be reached at N.C. Cooperative Extension, Brunswick County Center 910-253-2610 or by email at
clsyracu@ncsu.edu
