July 20--A towel used to sop up juice from raw hamburger meat also is used to wipe down counters. That may not sound that horrifying, unless you are Phyllis Fenn and know some of the frightening health risks it can cause.
Counters wiped down with bloody towels is something she has seen while inspecting restaurants throughout the state. And Fenn, a standardization officer with the Alabama Department of Public Health's bureau of environmental services, is hoping those bad habits will change.
Debbie Harris and David Pettit of Montgomery started the Food Safety Training Center on Atlanta Highway to make sure that they do.
The center is one of only two fixed-site training facilities in the country that provide food safety certification classes. There are other companies that provide the classes, but they are mobile and move from location to location, instructor Andy Bozeman said.
If others aren't as scared about food safety as Fenn, perhaps they should be.
Researchers estimate that food-related diseases cost America $5 billion to $6 billion a year in direct medical expenses and lost productivity, according to a National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
The personal cost can be much higher. Federal studies estimate that more than 5,000 people die each year in America from some type of food-related disease. About 76 million people in the United States contract these diseases each year, and about 300,000 of these people wind up being hospitalized.
Although the vast majority of the food-related diseases occur at home -- about 62 million -- having about 14 million people a year become sick from eating out is still far too high for Harris.
And there are always food problems -- nationally and locally.
In the past 12 months, Montgomery County health inspectors have given only one restaurant a score that was lower than 60.
The Montgomery County Health Department immediately suspended the food permit for Servers, at 2477 E. South Blvd., after the bar scored a 58 during a routine inspection April 29.
Cindy S. Goocher, assistant director of the Environmental Health Division of the Montgomery County Health Department, has been with the department since 1990 and said that during those 20 years, there may have been only one other score she saw that was as low.
"It just doesn't happen," she said.
But even higher scores can cause safety problems.
The owner of Ichiban Sushi House on Woodmere Boulevard closed the restaurant after it received a 63 in February 2009 and then only raised that score to a 67 on its second inspection in March 2009.
The center is an attempt both to help restaurant owners avoid these types of inspections and to protect their customers' health, and so far the instruction has proven surprisingly popular.
People have come from throughout the nation to attend the class at the training center, Bozeman said, adding that other states' requirements are similar to Alabama's so the training here is just as effective there.
The classes teach people how to handle food properly -- how to look for it, buy it, store it and cook it, said Harris, who besides being a co-owner is the assistant director of food services with the city of Montgomery.
A change in Alabama law about five years ago has made the center not only popular but crucial.
When Alabama adopted the 2005 Food Code, one provision was that at least one person in restaurants where raw foods are handled, including fast-food eateries and sushi bars, would become food safety certified. When the state adopted the code, it opted to go with a lead-in time -- Jan. 1 of this year.
One reason for the five-year lead-in was because the courses had to be available for the restaurant managers to attend. This is especially important for some of the restaurants in the more rural Alabama counties, said Ron Dawsey, director of food, milk and lodging with the State Department of Public Health.
Some of the courses were not even set up when the law passed.
"We wanted to get the word out, and not blindside restaurants with this information," Fenn said.
Classes are held to train people in both category 3 and 4 restaurants. Category 3 includes businesses that handle and prepare food such as raw animal products at fast-food restaurants, while category 4 businesses are for those where food is prepared out in the open, such as at a sushi bar.
Both certification and basic training classes are offered. Many business opt to send an employee to the certification class, who, in turn, is expected to educate their fellow employees.
The classes can help restaurants improve their health department inspection scores, which is exactly what they are designed to do, Fenn said.
She said the certification class helps restaurants reduce food-related illnesses as well as teaching them about the proper temperatures to cook and hold food (the temperature of food that sits out at a buffet) and proper hygiene.
"This is a tool to educate restaurant owners in general that are wanting to sell food to the public," Fenn said.
There are many dangers restaurants must be aware of. But many of these are simple to prevent. Harris said people can cross-contaminate food when they don't wash their hands. Food also can be ruined if it is not stored at the proper temperatures -- cold food must be kept at 41 degrees or lower, and hot foods must be kept at 135 degrees or higher. Not getting rid of items once they have been in the danger zone is another hazard.
"We are trying to educate people, period," Harris said.
Once a person passes the certification test, they are food safety certified for five years, Fenn said.
Alabama set up its system a little different from other states. If a person takes and fails the test, they are still food-safety certified for one year and are required to take the test again.
"We feel the reason they (state Department of Public Health) set it up this way is because we have people who have had restaurants for decades -- little 'mom and pop' stores," Fenn said. "Our intent is to not put restaurant owners out of business."
Instead they want to enable these restaurants to act like real moms and pops -- to look out for the safety of those who place their trust in them.
Additional Facts
TO LEARN MORE
For more information on the Food Safety Training Center, visit www.fstc-usa.com/index.asp or call 399-7270.
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