Teaching Proper Food Safety

Teaching Proper Food Safety and Compliance is Dottie LeBeau’s Calling.

She could not have known it at the time, but her training as a Hearings Officer for the Traffic Tribunal and the DMV gave her the background and temperament to segue into her next opportunity at the RI Department of Health as a state inspector.

Her love of food and ability to help others provided the inspiration for her current endeavor as a food safety instructor/inspector for The Dottie LeBeau Group, based in Hope. Dottie works with restaurants throughout Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut to show them what they need to do to remain in compliance and keeping their workers and customers healthy and free from potential illnesses that could cause problems for everyone involved.

Dottie, who worked for the state of Rhode Island for over 28 years before retiring, said being able to demonstrate why restaurant owners need to fix a problem works far better than simply telling them they must do it to comply. It’s the compassion she brings to her work that endears her to restaurant owners instead of running for cover.

“I can go into a restaurant and in a few minutes know whether I will be eating there or not,” said LeBeau. “If I go into a restaurant where I can see the cooks aren’t wearing gloves or are engaging in other unsafe food safety practices, then I turn around and leave. My husband can sense this sometimes and says, ‘we aren’t eating here, aren’t we?’ It doesn’t turn off; you always look to see if establishments are doing the right things.”

Getting her foot in the door happened by chance—and a colleague’s nudge. Her friend sent in her resume for the inspector position at the RI Department of Health. She received the interview and was offered the position in part because of her experience with helping people and being able to diffuse possible volatile situations.

“My new boss said he could teach me everything that I needed to know about food. He knew that I could succeed in this job because I knew how to successfully handle adversity. I dealt with people who weren’t happy in their situation, and he was impressed with my skills in making people leave happier with the solutions rather than adding to their problems,” she said.

LeBeau was sent throughout the country to learn about food safety. She joked that people always remarked about her RI accent. She once went to New Hampshire for a course on “The Big Dig” highway project in Boston. There, she learned about setting rat traps for the rodents displaced from the massive construction happening throughout Downtown Boston. She said it was just as important to know how to deal with the four-legged creatures as well as the two-legged ones.

Once she was licensed to teach, Dottie initially taught her courses for URI in Downtown Providence. She quickly learned her students had difficulty commuting and finding suitable parking in the late afternoon. To solve the issue, some colleagues in the restaurant industry offered her their facilities or banquet halls to help. That move made all the difference, she added, because it made classes more convenient and easier for students to attend these classes.

Because of the provincial nature of Rhode Islanders, she holds these classes throughout the state. More information about her upcoming courses may be found on her website at www. foodsafety-certification.com.

Students receive a day-long (eight hour) class on the fundamentals of food safety, a course book, an exam study guide (of more than 100 multiple choice questions) and the national test. Passing the exam means the students are nationally certified because this certification is accepted in all 50 states.

Instead of simply reading from the book, LeBeau has fun by playing games such as “Jeopardy” and “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” to keep the students engaged. Plus, it gives them a way to remember the materials before taking the exam.

“Plus, they love my stories about my inspections,” she added.

Dottie cites her husband, Ernie, not only for his support, but for taking over the administrator duties so she can be out in the field. It was something that became a game changer because it provided her with additional opportunities.

The funny part to her was how she thought her husband wasn’t technically savvy.

“I didn’t think Ernie knew how to turn on a computer, let alone use it,” she said. “I was pleasantly surprised to learn that he could do spreadsheets, make calls, and connect with people to solve their questions or concerns,” she said.

The Dottie LeBeau Group provides online training in English and Spanish, group trainings, pre-opening and non—compliance inspections and consultations for new and remodeled kitchens.