Food Safety
Our Commitment to Our Customers
Food safety and the well-being of our guests are Dining Services’ highest priorities. We approach this commitment to our customers in several ways:
- Our department operates under seven guiding principles, including our first principle which is “sanitation and safety are paramount.” As a result, all campus dining centers operate under a comprehensive food safety plan created to prevent foodborne illnesses.
- Dining Services follows a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) program at all of its kitchens and dining centers. HACCP is an internationally-recognized system for reducing safety hazards in food by tracking each ingredient from delivery through preparation, cooking, and serving. Dining Services worked extensively with the Virginia Cooperative Extension's food safety specialist and the Montgomery County Health Department while implementing this program on campus.
- As part of our commitment to preventing foodborne illness, Dining Services invests in training for our staff. All new employees are required to complete our in-house training program, Food Safety 100. In addition, management staff must complete ServSafe®, a food-handling program from the National Restaurant Association. Currently, we have over 230 employees certified in this program.
Maintaining Sanitary Facilities
Our commitment to food safety and sanitation is integrated into everything we do at Dining Services. We work very closely with the Montgomery County Health Department to monitor sanitation in our kitchens and dining centers. In addition, we contract with Steritech®, an independent company that conducts semiannual, unannounced inspections. After each inspection, action plans are created to address any issues identified with designated corrective measures, including increased staff training. These plans are typically written within 24 hours of the inspection and reviewed by the local health department.
Dining Services works very closely with the local Health Department in creating sanitary facilities. Also, in the fall of 2000, the then Housing and Dining Services contracted with an independent company, Steritech®, to inspect our facilities semiannually for sanitation. These unannounced inspections are in addition to the Health Department inspections. They have the sole purpose of ensuring that we are maintaining our facilities in a sanitary manner at all times. While it is unrealistic to expect any operation to have no violations during an inspection, we pride ourselves in keeping these violations to a minimum. Violations can be deemed either critical or non-critical and while the term "critical violation" sounds severe, it is possible for an operation to have a critical violation while still maintaining an overall rating close to 100 percent, which is still a grade of A+.
As part of our commitment to food safety, action plans are created after every annual Health Department inspection. These plans detail what steps will be taken to resolve any situations identified during the Health Department Inspection. In addition, any training needs are identified and personnel are designated to oversee all corrective actions. These plans are written within 24 hours of the inspection and are then sent to the Health Department for review and approval. Current actions plans are listed with the food safety inspections scores.
Safe Handling of Meals To Go
After you purchase a takeout meal from a dining center, it’s important to follow a few, simple steps for proper food storage. Dining Services has stringent safety protocols that ensure we’re serving fresh, safe meals but when our customers leave a dining center with their order, it becomes their responsibility to prevent foodborne illness.
- Keep hot foods hot, above 140 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Keep cold foods cold, below 40 degrees Fahrenheit.
Don't leave any hot or cold food at room temperature for longer than two hours. If you take food from a dining center back to your room and leave it on your desk for longer than two hours, don't eat it. Throw it out!
Refrigerate the foods thoroughly (open up the container so cold air can get in) and don't store it for longer than two days. When you reheat the food, make sure that it is heated thoroughly until it is hot and steaming (above 165 degrees Fahrenheit). Stir the food, if possible, and rotate it in the microwave. If you don't eat all of the reheated meal, throw out the leftovers and don't save them in the refrigerator.
For questions, contact Ashley Foster, Assistant Director of Culinary Nutrition and Risk Management at Dining Services, at yes@vt.edu or 540-231-1896.