By Gwen Lee, Senior Manager, Food Safety Programs, FMI 

In a recent survey of FMI members, there was overwhelming support for employees across their organizations to receive food safety training. In fact, 92% of retailers believe that it is important for store associates take a retail-specific food safety training program. FMI is proud to deliver the SafeMark® Food Handler and Food Manager training programs – programs developed by retailers, for retailers.  

With the SafeMark Food Handler Online course users will learn to apply food safety principles directly to the task of preventing food contamination and recognize the steps needed to protect the safety of food. 

The course can be customized to prepare learners for your state’s certified food protection manager exam or to receive approval by your state’s Department of Health or Department of Agriculture. 

Every four years, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) updates the model FDA Food Code to help jurisdictions across the country adopt uniform food safety standards and help protect public health. We anticipate the next edition of the Food Code to be published later in 2021. To support food retailers throughout the country, the FMI Food Safety team is prepared to update the SafeMark Food Handler and Food Manager training materials to be consistent with all future updates to the Food Code, as well as state and local food safety requirements.  

Another component of cultivating a strong food safety culture is recognizing positive food safety behaviors and delivering consistent training. When employees get recognized, it not only reinforces positive food safety behaviors but demonstrates management commitment to food safety.  

On February 22, 2021, please join FMI in celebrating retail food safety heroes on Supermarket Employee Day. Food retail employees are on the front line of defense in the food establishment’s battle to prevent food contamination of their products and to  help demonstrate strong hygienic standards to customers. Even during simultaneous natural disasters and pandemics, food retail employees continue to hone their food safety skills and expand their knowledge to protect public health. Thank you for joining FMI in giving our sincerest thanks to all food safety heroes who play a critical role in feeding families and enriching lives.  

SafeMark training can be customized to fit the unique needs of your organization. To learn more about SafeMark training programs, please contact safemark@fmi.org.