The National Restaurant Association has partnered in China with Ecolab to share best practices for food-safety training.Representatives from the two organizations recently traveled to China, where they met with representatives from the State Food and Drug Administration, China’s regulatory body for restaurants and food safety, and the Institute of Executive Development, which oversees the curriculum…

Word spreads fast in the age of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Information about a restaurant’s menu and its latest health-department inspection moves quickly, and a good word is critical to success. Following the lead of other major cities, including Dallas, Los Angeles and New York, Baltimore is heading down the path of transparency. The city…

Add Hermosa Beach to the list of more than 60 California cities that ban some form of polystyrene. Earlier this month, the Hermosa Beach City Council voted to ban polystyrene takeout containers. The city of nearly 20,000 is in Los Angeles County. The ban affects about 25 restaurants, grocery stores and food vendors that distribute…

Read about the latest solution to ice safety for ice machines, a new digital ingredient scale, an eco-friendly warewasher and more!

We lost a good friend a couple of weeks ago. Pat Murray was the second great patriarch of the Murray family to earn a living from foodservice and to pass that legacy on to his children. His father, Art, started a restaurant in downtown Minneapolis in 1933, during the depth of the Great Depression. It…

Gaylord Industries has made three appointments to its sales and service department. Leading off is the promotion of Bruce Lukens to director of sales and marketing; he’ll guide the sales, sales engineering and marketing departments. The veteran of more than 30 years at the company most recently served as director of engineering. The Tualatin, Ore.-based…

Meiko Inc., enjoying what it calls a boom sales year, is beefing up its customer-service department. The Nashville, Tenn., company has added Danielle Mason as its sales and customer-service operations manager for the U.S. and Canada. Mason, most recently a senior financial analyst at Unified Brands, brings more than a decade of marketing, business development…

Robin Crispin, who spent a lifetime in the E&S industry, passed away Aug. 6 at the age of 79. He recently retired from Best Restaurant Equipment & Design Co. Crispin grew up to serve as president and owner of his parents’ Columbus, Ohio, dealership, General Hotel Supply Corp. The firm specialized in bid work, and…

Patrick Murray, the second-generation owner of Service Ideas, died of cancer July 30. He was 72. The Woodbury, Minn., manufacturer of beverage servers and tabletop products was founded by his father, Art, in 1946. Patrick Murray’s lifelong role in the foodservice industry officially began in 1960, when he joined his parents in running Minneapolis’ signature…

Need to attend a CFSP refresher or to sit for your Certified Foodservice Professional exam? Two opportunities are pending. Oct. 16-17: CenterPoint Energy in Minneapolis is planning to host a CFSP overview and exam, but needs to fill seats to ensure the class minimum of 20 people. Contact Ann Lovcik, CFSP, CenterPoint’s Foodservice Learning Center…