Food Safety Manager – A Day in the Life
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“Many people think that food safety is simply common sense, like washing your hands, wearing gloves, or cooking things thoroughly. However, the irony lies in the fact that the simplest matters—those that should be common sense—are often the ones most overlooked.”
Bryan Quoc Le, PhD, Food Scientist, Industry Consultant, and Author
According to the CDC, there are more than 250 identified food-borne diseases. Most of those are infections caused by bacteria, although some are parasites or viruses. Unfortunately, 48 million people fall ill each year from foodborne illnesses. Of those, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die. Proper food handling procedures and vigilant food safety managers at all steps of the food chain can help ensure that the food helps keep consumers healthy and safe.
Food safety managers work anywhere there is food. This can include restaurants, hospitals, food production facilities, schools, and hotels. Their primary job is to ensure that food is safe for consumers. To accomplish this, they must know and abide by all local, state, and federal food safety laws, monitor food handling procedures in their establishment, train staff, and perform audits. This is a busy job with many moving parts, so food safety managers must be adept at staying ahead of the game.
Wages for food safety managers can vary based on their job description, duties, and place of employment. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS, May 2023), those who work primarily as food service managers earn an average of $72,370 per year, while those who work as occupational health and safety specialists and technicians earn $83,770 annually.
Continue reading to learn more about a day in the life of a food service manager, including their work environment, teams they work with, necessary skills, and certification.
Meet the Expert: Bryan Quoc Le, PhD
Dr. Bryan Quoc Le is a food scientist, industry consultant, and author of 150 Food Science Questions Answered. He earned his PhD in food science from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he studied the biological effects of savory flavors from plant-based sources.
Dr. Le has served as a faculty research fellow in chemistry at Pacific Lutheran University, a startup mentor at CoMotion Labs (University of Washington), a domain expert for Carbon13, and a research scholar at the Ronin Institute. As founder and principal food consultant of Mendocino Food Consulting, he has advised clients ranging from Blue Diamond Growers and Lactalis to The Good Food Institute and TurtleTree. His consulting work has been recognized with the 2024 Food Science Consulting Company of the Year and the 2023 Food Science Consultant of the Year awards from the Global Vegan Awards.
MHAOnline.com: What would you like the public to understand about food safety managers?
Dr. Le: Many people think that food safety is simply common sense, like washing your hands, wearing gloves, or cooking things thoroughly. However, the irony lies in the fact that the simplest matters—those that should be common sense—are often the ones most overlooked. If there is one thing that must be highlighted, I’d like most people to understand that a food safety manager is not just someone who enforces cleanliness to keep our food “clean” and safe.
Although it is essentially what they do, it takes more than that to uphold the principles and discipline needed to oversee a production for this purpose. They are highly trained professionals who understand how microorganisms proliferate and are experts in a system called HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points). This is necessary in identifying and preventing every possible risk of contamination in a food operation, from production up to consumption. Overall, it is essential to understand the people who work behind the scenes to keep our food safe. We may not see them, but we experience the results of their work every day.
MHAOnline.com: What advice would you give to an aspiring food safety manager?
Dr. Le: It is certainly a rewarding path to be a successful food safety manager, and in order to reach that goal, it is important to not just learn the rules but also understand the science that created them. Your most valuable asset in this career will be your deep understanding of the “why” behind every procedure.
Work Environment of Food Safety Managers
While it may seem at first that food safety managers only work in restaurants, they actually can work anywhere there is food. Places of employment include grocery stores, hospitals, food manufacturing facilities, restaurants, and schools. The work environment will vary depending on the facility where the food safety managers are employed. Some employers may provide food safety managers with an office, giving them more administrative duties and oversight, while others may not have a desk at all and instead take a very hands-on approach to ensuring food safety standards are maintained.
Food Safety Manager Team Members
Most food establishments cannot operate with only one person unless they are very small. Instead, efficient food preparation facilities and restaurants are managed by teams of staff, including front of house, back of house, sous chefs, and managers. Food safety managers make sure that all staff (bussers, wait staff, cooks/chefs, dishwashers, hosts) follow food safety regulations.
Typically, food safety managers will report to the establishment owner, the restaurant manager, or senior-level staff for the facility where they work. In some establishments, it is not uncommon for staff to wear several hats, and the food safety manager may even be the restaurant manager.
The best food safety managers will work with the staff as a team and help them succeed, rather than act like a ruling force giving orders. Training staff is essential to a food safety manager’s job, and the better they do that, the smoother their team will run.
Daily Responsibilities of a Food Safety Manager
Food safety in an establishment is the responsibility of the food safety manager. Not only does this help guarantee that patrons won’t get sick, but it can also help reduce food waste and maintain a high standard in a restaurant. Day-to-day duties can vary based on the size of an establishment, but typical responsibilities will include:
- Training employees on proper food handling techniques
- Maintaining proper documentation of all food safety procedures
- Checking temperatures and dates on food
- Monitoring temperatures in refrigerators and freezers
- Writing food safety protocols
- Understanding and implementing all local, state, and federal food safety laws
- Evaluating the quality of food products brought into the establishment
- Conducting safety audits
- Responding to any food safety-related complaints from staff or patrons
Required Skills & Knowledge of a Food Safety Manager
While food safety managers can learn some of the required skills and knowledge through on-the-job training, they must complete specialized training to understand some of the nuanced and technical parts of this job. For example, there are specific rules about how long food can be held at a given temperature or how food can be stored next to other foods that can only come from completing a course.
Certification & Licensure for Food Safety Manager
Food safety manager certification and licensure requirements vary by state. Some states may not require a food safety manager certification at all; instead, they only require someone on staff with a food safety training card at all times. Other states may require every staff member to have a food handling card and a manager to pass a Certified Food Protection Manager (CFPM) training program or exam.
The number of hours required to become a CFPM will vary by state but is typically between eight and 15 hours. After completing the training course, candidates will sit for the required exam. Depending on state requirements, most programs allow students to take their exams online, with or without a proctor.
Topics covered in a CFPM course can include:
- Ensuring personal hygiene
- Managing food holding times and temperatures
- Preventing contamination, cross-contamination, and cross-contact
- Managing cooking times and temperatures
- Monitoring the flow of foods
- Actively managing controls in a food establishment
- Managing the physical food establishment/equipment design and maintenance
- Managing cleaning and sanitizing activities
There are several food safety manager certification agencies across the country. Candidates should check with their local Environmental Health or Food and Sanitation department to ensure they take the appropriate course.
At a minimum, applicants should ensure the program they are completing is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), as this guarantees a minimum level of quality and a strong likelihood that the program will be accepted by regulating authorities. Organizations that offer ANSI-accredited food safety manager certification include:
- 360training.com, Inc.
- AboveTraining/StateFoodSafety.com
- National Registry of Food Safety Professionals
- National Restaurant Association
- Prometric Inc.
- The Always Food Safe Company, LLC
