GA Food Cert - Food Safety Training and Certification

Welcome To GA Food Cert

Your company for food safety training and certification. Our commitment is to provide you with superior training in food safety management. Our certification program meets all the new Georgia Food Code requirements adopted on February 13, 2007. GA Food Cert training will exceed your expectations! Equip your management, chefs and wait staff with the standard of excellence in food safety that you and your customers expect.

Critical information about New Inspection Report Form Standards

Under the New Inspection Standards that began August 2008, specifically “Management awareness, policy present and reporting” (sec 2-2A), the Person In Charge (PIC) must be aware of these code provisions and be able to verbally communicate the following information to the health department representative during a routine inspection:

Food employees are required to report certain symptoms or diagnosed illnesses to the PIC and the PIC is then required to report certain symptoms or diagnosed illnesses of employees to the regulatory authority (health department).
The PIC must convey knowledge of the employee health policy or have access to this policy.
The employee health policy must reflect the current Food Code provisions. Verbal communication of the employee health policy must be specific to the types of illnesses and symptoms that require reporting.

Answers for the above information required by the health department are:

Knowledge of symptoms related to excluding employees from work and the symptoms related to reportable diseases are:
Vomiting
Diarrhea
Jaundice
Sore throat with fever
A lesion containing pus that cannot be covered

The employee health policy that meets the standards under the new Food Code can be found on pgs. 31-39 in the Food Code itself. Post this and have available during inspection.

You must report the following five illnesses to the health department:
Norovirus
Hepatitis A
Shigella spp.
Enterohemorrhagic or Shiga toxin-producing E-coli
Salmonella Typhi.
You must report any Jaundice symptom to your health department, as is related to Hepatitis A.

Restaurants can score an “A”

Restaurants can score an “A” on inspection reports by understanding the basics in the New Georgia Food Code. Attending a Certified Food Safety Manager’s Course with experienced trainers on the Code is vital to your success. This is where GA Food Cert’s expertise can help. Get an “A”, keep the “A”! Train with GA Food Cert.

FREE access to Food Code

GA Food Cert offers the entire 2005 Food code as adopted by the State of Georgia in PDF format and online with keyword search. To access this valuable resource, please register for a free account. As a member, you will also receive a FREE monthly newsletter with valuable food code related information that you may use to educate your staff as well as special offers for GA Food Cert's comprehensive training and Food Safety Manager Certification program.

New Mandates associated with CFSM

CFSM (Certified Food Safety Manager) course is vital and required, but not the only element of compliance during your restaurant inspections. Now mandated in Georgia, restaurants will be marked “out of compliance” for the CFSM if any one of the following 4 responsibilities are not met:

A person in charge is not present.
Demonstration of knowledge must be met by performing duties, correct responses to questions by your health inspector or by having a CFSM on staff.
The Person in Charge (PIC) must establish compliance with food code safety procedures during inspection.
Restaurant management must provide documentation that the CFSM “staff” member is indeed an employee.

Yes, if any one standard is not met, no credit is given for the CFSM. We invite you to check with your local health department to verify this new inspection mandate.

Food safety training and inspection scores

Securing a successful inspection score is vital to every restaurant business. The Certified Food Safety Manager’s course meets the new state requirement in food safety training. Keep a “Person in Charge” on site who has their CFSM certificate and/or has knowledge of the 2005 FDA/GA Food Code.

GA Food Cert provides the CFSM course (5 year certification) and food code training during our one day program. Management, chefs and wait staff all work together to keep restaurants in good standing with local health departments.

Comprehensive food safety training and its daily implementation is your key to continued success. Begin implementing the new GA Food Code today. Keep your food safe and your business thriving.

Download Food Code (PDF format)

To download the entire food code in PDF format, click here. Your download should begin immediately. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the document. Get adobe reader here.

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