“Food safety is perhaps the most important training topic for food handlers,” says IDDBA’s vice president of education.
The International Dairy·Deli·Bakery Association (IDDBA) has launched training.iddba.org, a free online training Website.
Primarily aimed at supermarket dairy, deli, bakery, and prepared foods associates, the site offers training in both English and Spanish. Training is free and available any time on any device at training.iddba.org.
The site delivers training through short videos efficiently accessed through smart phones, tablets, desktop computers, and a host of other Internet-connected devices, including some department scales.
Food safety titles available are: “Handwashing & Personal Hygiene,” “Keeping the Department Clean,” “Keeping Food Safe,” and “Cooking, Holding, Chilling & Reheating.” All titles are also available in Spanish. Each video is accompanied by a short assessment to test knowledge and retention. A personalized certificate of recognition is available upon successful completion along with additional training resources available from IDDBA and other organizations. Associate tracking also makes record keeping easy. A simple account must be created before a certificate or a tracking record can be generated.
“IDDBA wants to help ensure that all retail associates are equipped with the skills they need to provide shoppers with high quality, safe products,” said Mary Kay O’Connor, vice president, education, IDDBA. “Food safety is perhaps the most important training topic for food handlers, which is why IDDBA is pleased to offer training.iddba.org programs free of charge.”
At present, training.iddba.org offers a total of 23 modules in English and 17 in Spanish. Content areas include cakes, breads, food safety, and cheese. Additional customer service, deli sliced meats, bakery, and dairy food safety modules are under construction.
For more information, contact IDDBA’s Education Department at (608) 310-5000 or [email protected].