Articles
How to Grow Your Ice Cream Business Safely
Finding and retaining skilled employees is a growing challenge in today’s food industry. Equipping them with the right food safety knowledge is not just a regulatory requirement—it’s essential to maintaining the quality and safety of your dairy products.
This resource provides a comprehensive overview of the trainings that your team will need:
- Pre-Entry Education: What employees should know before they step into your facility
- Day 1 Fundamentals: Core food safety practices and facility protocols
- Ongoing development: Continued learning as employees grow in their roles
These materials include guidance documents, videos, and visual tools designed to support your employee development journey. While not exhaustive, they serve as a strong foundation for building a culture of safety and excellence to help you grow your ice cream business safely.
Keeping Ice Cream Safe – Employee Training Poster
They say a picture is worth a thousand words and in this case, it’s true. A team of industry and academic experts have created a visual poster outlining essential food safety and good manufacturing practices for ice cream production.
This poster is a powerful tool for employee training, clearly showing what to do and what to avoid to ensure safe handling and production. Display it in work areas as a daily reminder that safety is everyone’s responsibility.
Protecting your product means protecting your customers and your business. Safe ice cream isn’t just good practice, it’s good business.
For additional resources and training materials, visit the following websites:
Verification of Control of an Environmental Contamination to Product or Product Contact Surface
Authors and Affiliation:
Brian Kraus, Wells Blue Bunny Ice Cream, and
Mat Bartkowiak, Nelson-Jameson Inc.
Recalls, Recalls, Recalls…Don’t Let It Happen To You
Authors and Affiliation:
Tim Stubbs, SVP Food Safety & Product Research, Dairy Management, Inc.
The Importance of Pest Control in Food Facilities
Authors and Affiliation:
Rich & Heather Draper, The Ice Cream Club, Inc. and Mat Bartkowiak, Nelson-Jameson, Inc.
Elevate Your Ice Cream Business By Learning Food Safety Basics
Authors and Affiliation:
Dr. Stephanie Cotter
Postdoctoral Researcher, North Carolina State University
Food Safety Plan Development You Are Not Alone
Authors and Affiliation:
Dr. Samual Alcaine, Associate Professor, Cornell University
Foreign Materials Control Webinar
Authors and Affiliation:
The Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy® Webinar on Foreign Material Controls
Hurdle Approach to Food Safety
Authors and Affiliation:
By: Brian Kraus, MS Director Food Safety & Regulatory Compliance Wells Enterprises Inc
Allergen Control: A Triple-Check Approach
Authors and Affiliation:
Heather Draper, Director, The Ice Cream Club, Inc.
Rich Draper, CEO and Co-Founder, The Ice Cream Club, Inc.
John Allan, Vice President of Regulatory Affairs & International Standards, International Dairy Foods Association
Resources for Growing Your Business Safely: Ice Cream Inclusions
Developed in collaboration with a team of small business owner, processor, trade association, and academic volunteers.
Color-Coding In a Food Processing Facility: It Starts with Hue
Authors and Affiliation: Dr. Mathew J. Bartkowiak, Nelson-Jameson, Inc.
Let’s Talk Allergens
Author: Heather Draper, Director, The Ice Cream Club, Inc. Boynton Beach, FL
Food Safety Corner – Foreign Materials, March 2023
By Brian Kraus Director of Food Safety and Regulatory Compliance, Wells Blue Bunny
Understanding Your Ingredients and Where They Come From
By Joy Waite-Cusic, Jovana Kovacevic, and Sheri Cole, Department of Food Science and Technology, Oregon State University
Common Sense Cleaning & Sanitation Practices
By Mr. Hank Sweeney, National Account Manager, Classic Mix Partners
Food Manufacturing Sanitation: What You Need To Know
By Amanda Kehres, Multi-Site Senior Director Of Quality Assurance, Graeter’s Ice Cream Company, and Advanced SQF Practitioner, PCQI
Understanding FDA’s Food Facility Registration Requirements
By John Allan, International Dairy Foods Association, and Rich Draper, The Ice Cream Club, Inc.
Growing Your Ice Cream Business Safely-Step 1 Self Audit
Feel like you have good programs in place? Not sure where to start? Regardless of where you are in your food safety journey, please join us in making The Food Safety Resolution by taking the first step of completing a self-audit/food safety assessment.
Writing Your Food Safety Plan: Help Is Here
You are ready to make and sell your dairy products, but writing a food safety plan to be FSMA compliant may seem scary or overwhelming. Good News! It doesn’t have to be. Come join this virtual workshop to learn what the key components are and then chat with food safety coaches on Zoom to help answer your specific questions. Check out this video to learn more about it. Click Here to Get Started
Take the Mystery Out of Quality Control
Are you a small to medium-sized ice cream or frozen dessert manufacturer looking to ensure your products meet important food safety requirements? Look no further than our online training curriculum.
Food Safety and Ice Cream
What does “Food Safety” mean in the context of your Ice Cream business? This article is one of a series that will introduce you to some of the risks that ice cream makers face and what can be done to help minimize those risks. Future articles will go deeper and share tips and practices to help control each type of risk.
Make Sanitation Your New Year’s Resolution!
“Growing Your Ice Cream Business Safely“
By: Heather Draper, Director, The Ice Cream Club, Inc. Boynton Beach, FL
