National Food Safety Month (in September) was created in 1994 to heighten the awareness of food safety education and help reinforce proper food safety practices and procedures.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, each year 48 million illnesses, 128,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths in the United States can be traced to foodborne pathogens. The Food and Drug Administration estimates that 2% to 3% of all foodborne illnesses lead to serious secondary long-term illnesses.

In the convenience store industry, foodservice was the second largest sales vehicle inside the store in 2018, per the NACS State of the Industry Report of 2018 Data. Last year, foodservice continued to be the top in-store profit contributor at 36.4% of gross profit dollars. It is a critical revenue generator for convenience retailers, bringing in some of the largest margins inside the store.

Given the growth of foodservice in the convenience store space, the fact that on average, one in six Americans gets sick from eating contaminated food every year is a statistic that can keep retailers up at night—especially when certain food safety procedures, such as handwashing, are controllable.

To help mitigate a foodborne outbreak in your operation, NACS offers the following:

• NACS partners with Ready Training Online (RTO) to offer e-learning modules specific to foodservice, such as food safety and sanitation. RTO also offers SURE™ Certified Food Safety Training for Managers. View more at www.convenience.org/elearning.
• NACS also offers a 10-course, online training series that can earn a Certified Convenience Foodservice Management (CCFM) designation for the student. Topics range from foodservice system basics and human resources to equipment cleaning, merchandising and more. Details are at www.convenience.org/certifiedfoodservice.