Indy Food Safety: Setting the Standard in Food Safety By Akilah Webster, Senior Editor for AMPS MAGAZINE
Have you ever been eating at a restaurant, and wondered just how clean the kitchen really is? Or perhaps you are the owner of a dining establishment, and feel overwhelmed with the task of preparing for your next health inspection? Indy Food Safety is here to provide solutions to both these sce
narios and many more. IFS is a minority-owned business founded in Indianapolis that specializes in all aspects of food safety. IFS is on the cutting-edge of helping restaurants with solutions that help cover them for any food safety issue that may be encountered. IFS offers a wide variety of services, ranging from audits and inspections, to ServSafe certification courses for restaurant owners and employees. These services help to increase a food establishment’s knowledge and awareness of food safety procedures and standards, and ensure that employees are properly adhering to them. IFS helps take some of the burden of these issues off of the business owner, and assists the owner in areas that no one else can. The company was founded in 2005 by Jonathan Warren of Indianapolis, IN. Warren spent time as a military food inspector after high school, then went on to study at Bowling Green State University, earning degrees in Microbiology and Chemistry. After college, Warren started Indy Food Safety, which began on a small scale with a few small staffing and restaurant contracts. The company has since expanded, adding on team members and gaining contracts. IFS’s team of food safety professionals are no strangers to the world of food safety. The staff members are all college graduates with extensive backgrounds in food science, microbiology, food inspection, food manufacturing, and environmental health. They are certified food handlers, certified trainers, inspectors and sanitarians. The business has now grown from its start-up phase, to become a fully functioning entity. IFS hopes to continue to grow, and will soon be
looking to add new team members with backgrounds in food safety, and experience with USDA and FDA inspections. Food safety can be a daunting subject for restaurant owners and employees. But with IFS’s assistance, food establishments can handle these issues with ease. IFS strongly believes that food safety should be a standard, not an option. Restaurant owners and managers should look at food safety services as a necessity in order to run a safe and successful business. IFS can assist businesses in all stages. For example, the company can help a start-up restaurant establish safety and cleaning procedures, pest control, uniform services, proper food storage and cooking temperatures, and sanitation procedures. In contrast, IFS can also assist a veteran business that is in danger of being shut down due to health violations. IFS would be able to guide that business into getting up to code, and getting things back in order. Either way, once IFS has serviced an establishment, passing the next health inspection should be no problem! IFS’s services don’t leave out the customer. The company also offers formal 3rd-party customer illness complaint investigations. Within 24 hours of an illness complaint, IFS will conduct a customer interview, a facility investigation, and a detailed report of the findings. Today’s food industry is constantly changing, and the services that IFS offers are definitely needed. Knowing that a restaurant has been serviced by IFS would certainly make me feel more confident about the food I am consuming. For more information or to contact Indy Food Safety, visit www.indyfoodsafety.com or call (317) 455-6783.
