To promote food safety certification for retail dairy, deli, and bakery department employees, the International Dairy-Deli-Bakery Association (IDDBA) offers a Food Safety Certification Reimbursement Program (FSCRP).
The program reimburses IDDBA member retailers for food safety certification test fees (up to the published cost) for dairy, deli, and bakery employees who successfully complete the certification exam. Since its inception in 2003, the FSCRP has reimbursed retailers more than $190,000 to certify nearly 5,000 department managers and associates.
“We think, as do many retailers, that it’s important for perishable department managers and associates to be skilled in handling food safely and uphold the highest standards in personal hygiene,” said IDDBA’s Director of Education, Mary Kay O’Connor. “This IDDBA program supports retailers’ efforts to achieve this goal.”
“Food safety is Big Y’s top priority, and protecting our customers starts with knowledgeable managers . . . IDDBA has been a great partner with Big Y, offering reimbursement to help offset our training costs. This is much appreciated in these tough economic times,” said Cas Tryba, director of food safety for Big Y Foods, who has participated in the program.
“The IDDBA reimbursement program has allowed us to train a larger number of employees per department over a faster time frame. The IDDBA staff is great to work with and their reimbursement process is efficient for the retail locations. The IDDBA is a valued business partner,” said Rose Kleyweg Mitchell, Sr. VP, Education & Governmental Affairs, Hy-Vee.
“IDDBA has been a valuable food safety partner . . . I would recommend the program to any organization seeking to find innovative solutions to funding food safety training,” agreed Pat Brown, director of food safety, for The Great A&P Tea Company.
Food safety certification exams from the following organizations are eligible under the IDDBA FSCRP: Prometric (Certified Professional Food Manager); National Registry of Food Safety Professionals (Food Safety Manager Certification or FMI-SuperSafeMark7); and National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (ServSafe7 Food Protection Manager Certification).
For more information or an application for reimbursement, go to www.iddba.org/certification.aspx, or call Karen Peckham at IDDBA, 608-310-5000.