Over the past few months the Illinois Legislature has passed a couple of new laws that will directly affect the way that foodservice operators will have to certify managers and other employees. These changes will directly affect all foodservice operators starting January 1, 2018.
We would like to take this time to outline these changes and to explain how they will affect each of you and how we at the SafeDining Association will continue our legendary level of training certification and service to our membership.
The first change in the law is that the State will no longer require the $35 payment for certification and they will recognize the certificate issued by an approved testing
organization.
The new law reads: Beginning January 1, 2018, any individual who has completed a minimum of 8 hours of department approved training for food service sanitation manager certification, inclusive of the examination and received a passing score on the examination set by the certification exam provider accredited under standards developed and adopted by the Conference for Food Protection or its successor organization, shall be considered to be a certified food service manager. What this means for the foodservice operators is that any manager who completes an approved ANSI food safety course and passes the associated exam and then is issued the passing certificate by that approved organization be considered certified by all departments of public health except in the city of Chicago. (The city of Chicago will honor the same certification as the State but they will still require the manager to apply for the Chicago certificate and they will maintain the charge for applying for the Chicago certificate). You will still have to have one certificated manager on duty at all time that food is being handled.
The second change that the State has put into effect is that as of January 1, 2018 each operation will be required to have a certified manager on duty at all times food is being handled also be certified in allergen safety and allergen awareness.
The new law reads: All food service establishments shall have at least one certified food service sanitation manager who has undergone training that follows nationally recognized industry standards for allergen safety and allergen awareness available on the premises at all times that the food service establishment is in operation. Some other key provisions to this law are as follows: Restaurant employed certified food service sanitation managers must obtain training in basic allergen awareness principles within 30 days of employment. These individuals must receive updated training every three years after initial certification. Training programs may be repeated as often as the employee or employer desires, but must be conducted by an ANSI or other accredited agency. Employees who receive this training are allowed to use this certification in any operation that they are employed. From January 1, 2018 to July 1, 2018 enforcement of the new standard is limited to education and employee notification of the required training. The city of Chicago will follow this new law.
There will be no change to the law that pertains to the Food Handler certification. All non-full certification employees that handle food or food contact surfaces must have a food handler certification (cooks, wait-staff, buss staff and bartenders).
The SafeDining Association is ready to help our members comply with every aspect of these laws. We have partnered with two ANSI approved organizations for full certification classes, food handler training and the new allergen awareness training. We will continue to offer our 1 day full certification training and test all of the locations. For the Food Handler and Allergy Awareness training we will offer an on-line training and testing program.
It has always been our philosophy to produce thorough yet understandable training and legendary service at the most reasonable cost. In our 30 years of providing that level of service and education for our members we were always under the belief that our educational seminars and client service were head and shoulders above our competition. This high level of service has kept our membership loyal to us through all these years so that we can fill our classes and keep our pricing structure reasonable.
Please take some time to look over the training options outlined. Please realize that we are flexible enough to design a training program to fit your specific needs.
Thank you to all of our members for your 30 years of loyalty to our Association. We are very proud to have a membership list of the finest corporate and independent food service organizations whose names stand for the highest quality of products and a true commitment to train their employees to serve that product safely. We look forward to maintaining our relationship with our members and creating new relationships to help you to continue providing the excellence of food safety that our customers have come to expect.
If you should have any questions or need any additional information please feel free to contact us at 630-434-0588 or info@safedining.com.