Food Protection & Safety

Food Protection

As a major component of Public Health, food safety is a priority for the North Central District Health Department. Part of our mission is to reduce the risk of foodborne illness and disease by ensuring food safety through education and, when necessary, enforcement. Currently our office issues licenses for well over 850 establishments, including mobile food vendors, operating within the district. This number does not include temporary events such as weekend festivals, that are issued permits and inspected as necessary. As a requirement of the licensing, all food service establishments and mobile food vendors must undergo routine inspections to monitor food handling practices and environmental factors which may cause illness or disease.

Food Safety

According to the United States Food and Drug Administration, an estimated 76 million cases of foodborne illnesses occur in the United States each year. The majority of these cases are mild and cause symptoms for only a day or two. Some cases are more serious. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that there are 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths related to foodborne illnesses each year. The most severe cases tend to occur in the very old, the very young, those who have an illness already have a compromised immune system, and in healthy people exposed to a very high dose of an organism.

As mentioned above the North Central District Health Department's goal is to ensure food safety through education. Education which is provided to residents as well as food service establishments. Below you will find valuable information which will help prevent the contraction and spread of foodborne related illness.

• Hand Washing - Proper hand washing is the most effective way to keep food and guests safe.  Wash hands for 20 seconds with soap and water and dry your hands with a paper towel. Hand washing is critical following restroom use, before preparing foods, after handling raw meat and before eating. Clean hands will help prevent the spread of potentially illness-causing microorganisms.

• Cleanliness - Bacteria can spread and get onto cutting boards, knives and counter tops. Wash and sanitize food-contact surfaces often. To sanitize utensils and food contact surfaces, such as counter tops, a clean solution containing at least 50 parts per million of chlorine (one teaspoon of 5.25 percent household bleach per gallon of water) can be used.  Utensils can be immersed in the sanitizing solution for at least one minute to sanitize. A rag immersed in the solution can be used to sanitize counter tops after cleaning. Also wash fruits and vegetables before preparing.

• Temperatures - Keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold. Not only do proper temperatures keep disease-causing bacteria from growing and multiplying, proper cooking temperatures will kill any bacteria that may be present in the food. While cooking temperatures vary from item to item, A safe practice is to cook meats to an internal temperature of 165 ºF. Cold foods should be kept cold at 45 ºF or less and  thawing frozen foods should be done in a refrigerator (with a temperature of 45 ºF or less (allow 3-4 days for thawing)), by placing under cool running water at a temperature of 75 ºF or less, in a microwave, or as part of the cooking process

For more information on food safety in the home visit fightbac.org