National Restaurant Association Launches New ServSafe 6th Edition Food Safety Program

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Apr 11, 2012, 11:24 ET

New training materials created by the industry, for the industry; ServSafe.com website redesigned for smarter navigation

WASHINGTON, April 11, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Restaurant Association is rolling out the next generation of its ServSafe Food Safety manager program this month to meet the evolving needs of the restaurant and foodservice industry. Available now, the new ServSafe Manager Book, 6th Edition (formerly ServSafe Essentials) training materials include optimized, recalibrated and focused content created by the industry, for the industry. In addition, the ServSafe.com website has been redesigned to ease navigation by multiple audiences and reflect the improvements in the 6th Edition.

"Food safety best practices are ever-evolving, and as the restaurant and foodservice industry's leading provider of food safety training and certification, we are evolving with them," said Paul Hineman, executive director of National Restaurant Association Solutions. "This new and improved version of our ServSafe program is – as it always has been – the result of industry collaboration to enhance usability, information flow, and knowledge retention. Restaurant managers training with ServSafe will have a whole new learning experience that translates into everyday food safety practices in any foodservice operation."

The new ServSafe 6th Edition contains the latest FDA Food Code updates and is based on a new job task analysis developed exclusively by restaurant operators across segments, academic bodies and regulatory experts for real-life situations. The new edition focuses more intently on the preventative measures to keep food safe, leading to stronger food safety practices and a better trained workforce.

The industry leader for nearly 40 years, ServSafe continues to evolve with innovative changes that make food safety easier to learn and retain. Because the ServSafe program is developed by the National Restaurant Association, proceeds go back into the industry to help improve the foodservice industry through research and education.

"ServSafe really is unlike any other food safety training program in the market today because of its source. As the industry's leading business association, the National Restaurant Association is invested in programs and events that help the restaurant industry succeed, as opposed to benefitting shareholders or private investors," Hineman said.

The ServSafe Manager Book in Spanish and the ServSafe Manager Online Course will be available in June. In addition, the ServSafe Food Protection Manager Certification Exam is being updated to reflect the new ServSafe JTA as well as the 2011 Supplement to the 2009 FDA Food Code this month.

The ServSafe program is certified through the American National Standards Institute-Conference for Food Protection (ANSI-CFP), the leading certifier of food safety training.

Certified ServSafe Instructors may access several free tools and resources available on the Instructor Tools page on the new ServSafe.com website for seamless transition to the new training materials.

ServSafe 6th Edition will also be showcased at the 2012 National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show (May 5-8 at Chicago's McCormick Place) in the Association's booth #6600, as well as the ServSafe booth #6867.

Founded in 1919, the National Restaurant Association is the leading business association for the restaurant industry, which comprises 970,000 restaurant and foodservice outlets and a workforce of nearly 13 million employees. We represent the industry in Washington, D.C., and advocate on its behalf. We operate the industry's largest trade show (NRA Show May 5-8, 2012, in Chicago); leading food safety training and certification program (ServSafe); unique career-building high school program (the NRAEF's ProStart, including the National ProStart Invitational April 27-29, 2012, in Baltimore, Md.); as well as the Kids LiveWell program promoting healthful kids' menu options. For more information, visit www.restaurant.org and find us on Twitter @WeRRestaurants,Facebook and YouTube.