By Margaret Spence Krewen
In response to the increase in demand for certified foodhandlers, many foodservice companies are choosing to provide in-house food safety training instead of outsourcing. By training owners, managers, chefs or HR professionals with a “one-two” punch of management level food safety training and a Train-the-Trainer Program, organizations can provide customized in-house training programs, often at a fraction of the cost of outside food safety training providers.
Some industry leaders are leveraging food safety training as a marketing tool, while protecting their reputation and bottom line. They set the gold standard by certifying all of their food handlers instead of the legislated minimum standard. The result? Increased food safety training protects customers, builds trust and improves employee morale by building a strong food safety culture.
An effective food safety Train-the-Trainer Program provides participants with both theory and practical experience needed to support participants in designing and facilitating successful training programs. While food safety Train- the-Trainer programs vary in length of duration, course content should be similar. In order to understand how adults learn differently than children, reference should be given to one or more reputable adult learning theorists. While there are many different theorists to choose from, they all teach relatively the same thing: As humans, we all possess unique personalities, which influence how we prefer to learn and teach.