While Food Safety and HACCP may not be the sexiest of topics to some, they're fair game on the RD exam and important for dietitians to know. Keeping food safe is key when working in food service - and one of the best ways to keep food safe is by having a HACCP plan.
The RD Exam is an entry-level exam and covers every area of nutrition because you never know where you'll end up in your career. As a nutrition expert, it's best to know a little bit of everything and then specialize in your favorite area.
In this episode of the RD Exam Made Easy Podcast, I talk to Nicholas Padula, MS, RD. He's an incredible dietitian with 7 years experience in food service management. Nick has been through many fun and challenging times working in hospital and long-term care food service.
He recently decided to pivot and left food service management to start his own business, LBC Nutrition. You can learn more about Nick and his business at
www.lbcnutrition.com. You can also find him on Instagram @lbc_nutrition.
This is what you'll learn in this episode:
1) An overview of HACCP and what it stands for
2) The types of contaminants that can end up in food and make people sick
3) How to easily breakdown scoop sizes - you gotta know this for the exam, and;
4) A little history on why food safety is a priority in food service
Here's a glance at this episode:
[00:35] An example of why temperatures are so important and an overview of the proper cooling process for food prepared ahead of time.
[04:15] A breakdown of HACCP, what it stands for, and the critical control points where temperature and time must be monitored to make sure food is safe.
[08:40] A summary of minimum cooking times for various foods as well as the holding temperature requirements.
[10:00] An easy way to determine the number of ounces in each scoop size.
[14:00] Reviewing the order food should be stored on shelves in the refrigerator - a sure thing health inspectors and surveyors will look at.
[16:09] Nick shares a story that resulted in the development of the Meat Inspection Act of 1906 by Theodore Roosevelt.
Resources:One of the goals of this podcast is to break concepts down and make studying easier. Nick and I created a free cheat sheet summarizing the topics covered in this podcast. You can get your free cheat sheet
here.
Episode Transcript 
