ServSafe offers free courses and videos on safe practices for takeout and delivery
For 30 years, ServSafe has been at the forefront of preparing restaurant and foodservice employees to deliver safe dining experiences for their guests while also keeping themselves safe. This mission is as important as ever during the service disruptions caused by the coronavirus.
As restaurateurs focus their businesses on takeout and delivery during the pandemic, ServSafe, the National Restaurant Association’s food-safety training and certification program, has released two new training videos to help reinforce safe food handling and safe delivery practices for all operations.
In addition to the videos, ServSafe also is offering its online Food Handler training program free through April 30. More than 3 million people have earned their ServSafe Food Handler certification. The training has helped educate line-level and front-of-the-house employees to understand food safety.
The ServSafe Takeout video highlights safety measures restaurants and foodservice employees should follow to ensure the foods and processes for preparing them for off-premises dining is safe.
The ServSafe Delivery video focuses on safety measures to help reduce risk associated with delivery of the food, including special handling precautions during the coronavirus crisis. Both are available on-demand and are free of charge. Both English and Spanish versions are available.
Sherman Brown, the Association’s executive vice president of training and certification, says the ServSafe team developed the training videos to provide guidance for restaurant employees preparing food and delivery people who transport it to the customer.
Video highlights
ServSafe Takeout: COVID-19 Precautions focuses on:
- An overview of coronavirus, its symptoms, and details about how it’s transmitted
- Respiratory hygiene practices to reduce the spread of the virus
- Keeping guests safe through heightened cleaning and sanitizing
- Guidelines for single-use gloves
- Packaging considerations for takeout and/or curbside pickup
- Guest contact precautions during takeout
ServSafe Delivery: COVID-19 Precautions highlights:
- An overview of coronavirus, its symptoms and how it is transmitted
- A review of the five-step handwashing process
- Respiratory hygiene practices to reduce the spread of the virus
- Packaging best practices to reduce risks of exposure and food contamination during delivery
- Cleaning and sanitizing considerations for delivery, including attention to coolers, insulated bags, and surfaces in vehicles
- Precautions and hygiene recommendations for workers regarding surface contacts during deliveries
"As restaurants are forced to change how they do business, we want to ensure safe customer experiences by extending best practices for safe food handling to takeout and delivery," Brown said.
Brown added that the ServSafe team is available to operators and their employees via phone, text, online chat, and email.