In Dec. 1992, Lauren Beth Rudolph, a six-year-old girl from California, died of E. coli poisoning after eating a hamburger from a Jack in the Box fast-food restaurant. That incident was part of a larger outbreak on the West Coast.
That’s just one of many examples Cathy Watson shares with restaurant employees and owners as a certified ServSafe training instructor and proctor. Watson, the owner of a business called Helping Restaurants, teaches a one-day ServSafe certification course that covers a variety of topics, including proper food handling practices, food storage, and personal hygiene.
After the training course, each participant must pass a certification exam. One food manager, which can be a cook, owner, or another employee, from each restaurant must complete the course and pass the exam.
She said ServSafe certification is required by many states, including Georgia.
“It’s important to learn about food safety principles they can take back to their facility to train other employees,” Watson said. “I have one day to get them to think about food safety, not just the exam.”
Blake Clark, a cook at Angie’s Steak & Seafood in Thomson, completed the course Wednesday.
“I learned a lot about contamination and what to look for,” Clark said.
Watson, who worked as a restaurant cook and private chef for many years, recently relocated to Georgia from Oregon. She previously worked as a ServSafe instructor and proctor in California. Helping Restaurants provides other services, such as third-party audits.
Watson shares examples like the Jack in the Box E. coli outbreak to ensure restaurant employees understand that improper food handling can have lethal consequences. But she doesn’t want them to worry too much about the exam.
“The real test is when the health department shows up,” Watson said.
For more information, visit helpingrestaurants.com.
