Luby's has developed strict policies and procedures for holding food.

Taking Control with Technology & Training Part II: Two restaurant chains bring together all the elements to ensure safe food. Luby's Dishes Out Food Safety Many of today's cafeteria chains epitomize the trend toward safe, high quality food. One such chain is Luby's, Inc. based in San Antonio, Texas, where food safety and quality food vie for close attention. "Our food safety philosophy closely ties in with our operating philosophy," says Dennis Thayer, director of operations quality assurance for the chain. "Luby's prepares fresh food in small batches."

As the chain's customer base has shifted in recent years from predominantly older consumers to more families, food safety has become even more vital. "We now have more YOPIs-young, old, pregnant and immuno-compromised-and we can't afford to compromise on safety when we serve this group," Thayer says.

To employ many of the principles of a HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) food safety program, Luby's turned to the ServSafe¨ food safety program. Manager certification in the ServSafe program is required for every level of unit management, and several headquarters staffers have received training in the ServSafe "Train-the-Trainer" program. These ServSafe teachers routinely travel to the company's 18 area headquarters to train multiple unit managers at one time. Unit employees, in turn, are trained by their managers, who use ServSafe training videos and pre- and post-training tests. Videos are augmented by a food safety correspondence course.

Taking Control through Technology
In the creation of its food safety program, the company identified nine key areas posing the biggest food safety risks and developed policies and procedures to address them. These areas include food-holding temperatures, reheating methods, cooking temperatures, cooling procedures, handwashing techniques, excluding or restricting ill employees from working with food, avoiding cross-contamination from pathogens or chemicals, monitoring food quality, and purchasing from approved sources.

"Personal hygiene and temperature control are the biggest problems we face," Thayer says. As part of its personal hygiene program, Luby's enacted a strict handwashing policy. In addition to washing their hands between tasks, employees are required to double-wash their hands using a nail brush before they start work and each time they use the restroom. The chain also enforces a mandatory handwash once an hour. In addition, employees use hand sanitizers, tongs and utensils to transfer cooked foods to serving lines and gloves when working in the salad preparation area.

To record and monitor handwashing, Luby's is implementing Ecolab's DIGITSª program. Employees wear a colored dot on their name tags that corresponds to one of four colors on the handwashing station. They are assigned a specific time to wash their hands-on the hour, quarter-hour, half-hour or three-quarter hour. Employees push the corresponding color on the handwashing station, which records that the station was used. Managers are able to monitor who uses the handwashing stations to help ensure compliance. Incentives, such as prizes, are used to reinforce adherence to the program.

To be continued in the next issue