NJ Food Council Receives Training Grant
By George Anderson
The New Jersey Department of Labor has awarded a grant of $250,000 to the New Jersey Food Council (NJFC) to continue its program of training workshops for food handlers employed
in the state’s supermarkets and convenience stores.
The announcement of the grant was made during a ceremonial presentation at the NJFC’s 30th Annual Good Government Breakfast held Wednesday at the Woodbridge Hilton in Iselin,
NJ.
New Jersey’s Department of Labor Chief of Staff Douglas Placa said, “The food industry continues to grapple with the challenges that so many industries face — maintaining a
skilled workforce, overcoming the challenges of turnover, and confronting communication barriers. The training provided by this grant will aim to address each of these problems
and will extend our state’s commitment to its workforce even further.”
The grant will expand NJFC’s current program allowing it to provide training to 2,500 New Jersey food handlers. The program will be available in English and Spanish language
versions.
NJFC Executive Vice President Linda Doherty said, “We are pleased once again that the Food Council can provide this standardized food sanitation and safety training program to
New Jersey supermarket and convenience store food handlers.”
The Food Handlers Best Practices in Food Safety program was developed in partnership with the New Jersey Department of Health and Rutgers University. Retail employees
complete a six-hour workshop, which combines lessons on retail food safety requirements and food code regulations.
Moderator’s Comment: Are food businesses providing adequate training to employees responsible for food handling? What are your thoughts on public/private
partnership programs such as that described in this story?
Having attended the NJFC breakfast this week, we found anecdotal support for this training program to be strong. [George
Anderson – Moderator]