Canadian Government launches online Safe Food Handling program for Canada's
grocery sector

TORONTO, Oct. 25 /CNW/ - The Canadian Grocery HR Council (CGHRC), with funding support from the Government of Canada's Sector Council Program (SCP), announced today the release of its Frontline™ Online Learning program on Safe Food Handling for Canada's grocery sector.

"Food handlers have a huge responsibility to keep the public safe from consuming contaminated food, so proper training on safe food handling is a top priority for our industry," says Patti Galbraith, Project Manager for the CGHRC.

The Safe Food Handling program - part of the CGHRC's new Frontline™ Online Learning system - includes seven courses geared to front line employees, with a grocery-specific emphasis on how to properly handle and process food, along with a list of standard food safety rules that everyone should follow.  

In the past 15 years, the number of news references on food safety has increased from 20,000 references in 1996 to over 100,000 today, according to CIES, The Food Business Forum.  And the Public Health Agency of Canada estimates that every year between 11 and 13 million Canadians suffer from illnesses caused by foodborne bacteria, which it says, in most cases, can be prevented by using safe food handling practices.

What's even more alarming is that Health Canada says foodborne illnesses are the largest class of emerging infectious diseases - over 2.2 million cases each year - and estimates the annual costs related to these illnesses exceeds 2 billion due to medical and hospital expenses, lost income, time off work and loss of business to food processors and food retailers.

The Frontline™ Online Learning program on Safe Food Handling was developed in collaboration with the Canadian Council of Grocery Distributors (CCGD) and the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers (CFIG).  The Frontline™ Online Learning system is the first, and only, 24/7 online training solution available to Canada's independent grocers, and is the only industry-wide system available to large grocery chains and medium-sized enterprises.

Established in 2003, the Canadian Grocery HR Council (CGHRC) is a nationally recognized, non-profit organization funded by the Government of Canada's Sector Council Program that brings together representatives from business, labour, education, industry associations, government and other professional groups to support a collective response to the grocery industry's human resource challenges.

For further information:

Michael Sloan
Communications Coordinator
Phone: [phone]
Cell: 647-408-4117
Email: [email protected]