Does ServSafe care about your restaurant?

Make no mistake about it, ServSafe is a business and a profitable one.  They pull in an estimated $50 million per year according to industry insiders.  But how, exactly, does ServSafe make money?

Some background
ServSafe is part of the National Restaurant Association (NRA).  The NRA is in a conflicted position: while it is chartered to represent restaurants and their interests, its major source of income - ServSafe - is constantly searching for more ways to make money from the very restaurants it is called to represent and protect.

How ServSafe makes money

1. Book publisher - just type in 'ServSafe' to an Amazon.com search and you will see close to 300 books available.  They sell these books directly to the consumer and also through their proctor network, which brings us to point 2
2. Course material developer - ServSafe provides course materials - DVDs, pamphlets, etc - to independent instructors.  The average cost to get started as a ServSafe instructor can range in the thousands of dollars, all proceeds going to the NRA
3. ServSafe is a testing agency - When instructors give a ServSafe Manager's Food Safety exam, they typically pay ServSafe around $30 for each participant taking the exam 

Does ServSafe have the best interest of restaurants at heart?

Despite being an arm of the NRA, ServSafe clearly benefits through increased regulation and restrictions on the restaurant industry.  As more states require restaurants to have employees with more and more certifications (e.g., Manager's Food Safety Certification, Food Handlers Certification), ServSafe reaps the benefits.  In a later post we'll examine how ServSafe manipulated legislation in California to create a windfall for themselves at the cost of the restaurant operator. 

Does ServSafe "Suck"?

There seems to be a lot of angst in the food service industry over ServSafe.  A quick google search revealed this little gem of streaming consciousness from a personal blog:

servsafe sucks. i just lost a full day that i'll never get back. hopefully i'll get paid for it though.

As someone who has taken several ServSafe exams, I agree that it can at times be pretty...let's just say painful.  It's not that I have an aversion to exams - it is really that the process is so entirely lame.  For anyone that has not had the pleasure of taking this exam, here is how it works:

1. Take an entire day off work or away from your personal life
2. Sit through an all day class while an instructor crams information down your throat in hopes that you can keep it down just long enough to pass a test.  Once the test is over you, of course, forget everything you just 'learned'
3. Spend the entire class trying to memorize inane facts instead of spending time to think critically about how you can impact food safety in your food service environment
4. Take a hasty test and wait weeks before finding out if you scored high enough to avoid having to do the whole thing all over again

So yes, I would have to agree that this process is pretty terrible.  What's more: ServSafe's business model actually needs to operate this way to make money.  We'll explore ServSafe's business model in a later article, but for now just trust that ServSafe actually likes this model.


Fortunately, there is a better way to prepare for the food safety test than sitting in an all day ServSafe class: take an online study course.  An online course allows you to study in your spare time from the comfort of home while also allowing you to review the content as much as you want so that you can actually retain it.   


Before you jump right in though, understand that you should not take an online class through ServSafe unless you would like to develop severe hypertension. While ServSafe does offer an online course they do not offer an online test, so you still have to find a local proctor to administer the exam for you.  Local proctors don't like to give 'just an exam' because they make money when you sit for an entire class.  So if you train online with ServSafe you almost always then have to sit through a class anyway just to take the test.  It's as if they are promoting food safety by encouraging food service workers to hurl themselves off of tall buildings.


Your best option is to take an online course with one of the handful of online providers that show up through a quick google search.  Many of them have relationships with testing centers that allow you to take the test almost any day of the week, so you are no longer at the will and mercy of a ServSafe proctor.  A friend of mine recently signed up for an online food safety course through www.foodsafetyadmin.com, and he was very impressed by the ease and convenience of it.  If you are in need of a ServSafe certification I would definitely recommend this approach.  Unless you enjoy pain and misery.  Then you should go with a local ServSafe class.

What is ServSafe?

When people say "ServSafe" they are commonly referring to a certification in food safety earned by passing the ServSafe Food Protection Manager Exam.  This certification is considered a 'Food Manager' certification and is required by many states and counties.

ServSafe is like Kleenex
ServSafe itself is not a standard, nor is ServSafe an accreditation body.  ServSafe is simply a company that has been approved to provide the Food Manager exam by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).  There are two other companies - Prometric and the National Registry of Food Safety Professionals (NRFSP) - that have also been granted approval by ANSI to provide equivalent Food Manager exams.  Because ServSafe has a heavy lobbying and marketing arm, people often believe that they are required to have a 'ServSafe Certificate' when in fact what they mean is that they need a 'Food Manager's Certificate'.  In effect, ServSafe is like Kleenex®.  There are many other forms of tissue that you can use to blow your nose, however the Kimberly-Clark corporation, which owns Kleenex®, has done a remarkable job marketing their product to be ubiquitous with the product name.    

Food Manager's Certificate Not For Manager's Only
In most states, any establishment serving food - which ranges from hotdog vendors, to airplanes, to concession stands to restaurants  - is required to have at least one person on staff who has received their certificate.  Despite the name of the certificate, this person does not have to be a manager.  Many operators prefer that multiple people on staff have this certificate as the training prepares their staff to protect the operation from the spread of food borne illness and outbreaks.


Do I Need A Food Manager's Certificate? 
The short answer is yes.

• If you are looking for a job in the food service industry, having this certification is a leg-up over competing applicants  
• If you are an operator, ensuring your staff has had the proper training to reduce the risk of food borne disease can save your business  
• If you are a baby sitter or parent watching after young children, you would do well to learn about the prevention methods that could save a life  
• Every year more than 5,000 people in the U.S. die of a food related outbreak.  Every one of those deaths is preventable, and developing better knowledge in this field is the best way to bolster that prevention.

How Can I Earn A Certificate?
There are two formats for earning your certificate.  You can call your local health department and ask them for a schedule of local, in-person classes in your area, or you can learn through an online study program.  Most people opt for online study as taking an in-person class requires a full day commitment and is typically double the price of an online program.  www.foodsafetyadmin.com is one of the leading providers for the training required to earn the ServSafe / Food Manager's certificate.  There are other companies offering online training, however foodsafetyadmin.com is one of the few that are actually approved in all 50 states.