We are happy to announce that our industry-leading online food handler course is now available in five languages! The course, now available in English, Spanish, Mandarin, Korean, and Vietnamese, is currently live in the States of Colorado and California–with other locations soon to follow! For less than the price of a few gallons of gas, food workers of many language and cultural backgrounds can come to StateFoodSafety.com to receive food safety instruction in a way that will connect with them and have a better likelihood of being implemented in the workplace. We, in partnership with dozens of health departments around the nation, recommend this food handler training for food workers of all experience levels to help reduce  pathogens in the workplace and prevent the spread of foodborne illness.

Do you have a language need that we haven’t yet addressed? Let us know! Write to us at info@statefoodsafety.com. Group purchases are also available.

Click here for your California Food Handler Card.

Click here for your Colorado Food Handler Card.

–Emilee Follett

Well, it’s been an interesting year in food safety. Some good things have happened and some not so good things. This little post will highlight some of the bigger stories that took place in 2011.

One of the biggest stories is that of the raw milk industry. It seems that recently you can’t find a food safety website or blog without finding an article about raw milk. The raw milk advocates testify about the health benefits of drinking raw milk, and on the other side, the food safety experts all say that raw milk is dangerous. We here at StateFoodSafety.com definitely side with the safe food experts in saying that raw milk has the possibility of being a very dangerous product. All dairy products should undergo pasteurization to be safe for human consumption. Although, if you’re interested in some raw milk preaching all you have to do is google “raw milk” and you’ll find many people declaring that they have seen the light of raw milk. As for myself, when I read that one of the first things that will happen when you drink your first cup of raw milk is diarrhea, I have to stop because that doesn’t sound like miracle food to me. It sounds like a foodborne illness.

Listeria was in the headlines an awful lot this year. 2011 saw the deadliest outbreak of Listeria in decades. Not only were there outbreaks in several different countries but in several unexpected food sources as well. Cantaloupes from Jensen Farms in Colorado were found responsible for one particularly deadly outbreak. When all was said and done the CDC investigation found 146 persons infected in 28 states–and 30 deaths! Our hearts go out to those families that suffered through this tragedy. We hope to never see another one like this.

In California, steps were taken to avoid more foodborne illness outbreaks. SB 303 passed the Senate and House and Governor Brown signed the law into effect on September 6, 2011. The bill, which amended Senate Bill 602, mandates that food handler training programs be accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).

You can find more about the law by following this link: http://www.statefoodsafety.com/company/pages/articles/article-11

StateFoodSafety became the first online food handler training provider to receive the ASTM e2659 accreditation in California.

So in review, raw milk, listeria, and new food handler legislation; hopefully 2012 will bring more advances in foodborne illness prevention and fewer outbreaks. If we all do our part, even simple activities like handwashing can make everyone’s food safer. Happy New Year from StateFoodSafety.com!

–Tim Snarr

For more information about outbreaks and food safety in 2011, visit FoodSafetyNews.com.

Enjoy our new holiday cartoon to celebrate our favorite holiday of the year!

Also, a festive poem to share with your loved ones . . .

When Father Carves the Duck

by Ernest Vincent Wright

We all look on with anxious eyes
When Father carves the duck,
And Mother almost always sighs
When Father carves the duck.
Then all of us prepare to rise
and hold our bibs before our eyes
And be prepared for some surprise
When Father carves a duck.

He braces up and grabs a fork
Whene’er he carves a duck,
And won’t allow a soul to talk
Until he’s carved the duck.
The fork is jabbed into the sides,
Across the breast the knife he slides
While every careful person hides
From flying chips of duck.

The platter’s always sure to slip
When Father carves the duck,
And how it makes the dishes skip!
Potatoes fly amuck!
The squash and cabbage leap in space,
We get some gravy in our face,
And Father mutters Hindu grace
Whene’er carves a duck.

We then have learned to walk around
The dining room and pluck
From off the window sills and walls
Our share of Father’s duck.
While Father growls and blows and jaws
And swears the knife was full of flaws,
And Mother laughs at him because
He couldn’t carve a duck.

Happy Thanksgiving from StateFoodSafety.com!

P.S. Turkeys don’t come with stuffing already in them. That’s a bag of giblets.

Tim Snarr contributed to this post.

StateFoodSafety.com™ released a promo code for the California food handler course! If you need California food handlers card/certificate and don’t want to waste your time with other courses that may not be approved, look no further. We are your the answer to your food safety training needs. This coupon code is for the California Food Handler course but not valid in San Bernardino, San Diego, & Riverside. If you need your California food handler card and want the course that comes as close to free as possible follow the steps below to redeem the coupon code.

Steps to Redeem Coupon Code:

California Food Handler Coupon Code

Step 1: Go to www.statefoodsafety.com

Step 2: Select the purchase now on the right hand side of the screen

California Food Handler card purchase now button

Step 3:Go through the process including selecting your language preference (English, Spanish, & Mandarin)
Step 4: In the group purchase codes field input the coupon code: BESTCOURSE2011

StateFoodSafety.com Coupon Code: BESTCOURSE2011

Step 5: Use Group Purchase Code: BESTCOURSE2011

Now get your California Food Handler Course for $8.00

$4.25 taken off your course price immediately making your food handler course $8.00

Get your California food handler certificate for $8.00

A few weeks ago, we let you know that StateFoodSafety.com had received accreditation from the American National Standards Institute, as a certificate provider for Food Handler Card training. Now, we have even more to celebrate as Governor Brown has signed Senate Bill 303 into law. SB 303, also known as the revised California Food Handler Law, became official on September 6, 2011. This law requires that all California Food Handlers receive Food Handler Training from an ANSI accredited program. The bill, more than nine months in the making, helps ensure that all California Food Handlers will receive consistent, instructionally sound training when procuring their California Food Handler Card.

We were privileged to be involved in the crafting of this bill and we would like to congratulate Senator Padilla, the bill’s author, as well as the entire California State Legislature for taking this important step toward ensuring the continued success of the California food service industry.

Online Food Handler Training is a great way for California’s food handlers to learn to do their jobs safely and prevent foodborne illness. StateFoodSafety.com is proud to offer a quality online food handler training experience to food handlers throughout the state. Our course has been recognized for its instructionally sound presentation, so much so that StateFoodSafety.com was recently awarded an exclusive contract to administer the food handler training program in San Bernardino County.