4 Features of the New SafeMark Manager eLearning Course

By: Hilary Thesmar, PhD, RD, FMI Vice President, Food Safety Programs, Food Marketing Institute

The goal of food safety training is for employees to gain an understanding of proper food safety practices that are necessary to prevent foodborne illness.  The consequences of foodborne illness are often severe and can be devastating to businesses.  Food safety is foundational to positive store ratings, according to U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends, 2014, and implementing an effective food safety training program is one component to reduce the risk of foodborne illness and create a positive food safety culture within an organization.

SafeMark’s eLearning provider, Alchemy Systems, most recently released, SafeMark™ Food Safety Manager: Certification Training for Retail Food Stores, designed specifically for the retail food manager. 

The four new learning features of the training, highlighted below, are just some of the changes that improve the learning experience, while equipping food managers with innovative tools to reduce the risk of foodborne illness and meet regulatory requirements.  In addition, the course prepares retail food managers for the SafeMark™ Food Protection Manager Certification Exam offered through the National Registry of Food Safety.

1. Interactive Learning: Through improved narration, animations and quizzes,SafeMark enhances usability by incorporating interactive activities and retail-specific learning scenarios to maximize retail managers’ food safety knowledge and concept retention. 

2. Time-Sensitive Learning: Today’s retail associates are pressed for time.  A recent study, published in 2014, identified that time and workplace organization as the leading barriers preventing employees from performing safe food handling behaviors.  Additionally, nearly 80 percent of respondents to the 2014 Global Food Safety Training Survey, reported that time is the biggest training challenge.

The new SafeMark™ eLearning course is delivered in an effective and efficient manner to maximize learning time and still includes the essential food safety information that is necessary to prevent foodborne illness.

4. Latest Learning: Updates in the new SafeMark Food Safety Manager courseinclude recommendations from the 2013 FDA Food Code. The newest edition of the FDA Food Code is published every four years and incorporates changes recommended by Conference for Food Protection.  The FDA Food Code serves as a model for all levels of government responsible for regulating the retail and foodservice industry to protect public health. 

In the business of food safety, the best protection is prevention, and it begins with the right training program.   

Want to know more about what SafeMark offers?  Visit: www.fmi.org/food-safety/safemark. Also, check out these webinar recording on Advances in Employee Food Safety Training and Learning, Knowing and Living a Food Safety Culture.