Road Town, Tortola - All booth operators and food handlers with plans to sell food during August festival are advised that the Environmental Health Division (EHD) will be conducting additional food handler educational sessions in July.
The clinics are being held in the Conservation and Fisheries Conference Room in the Quastisky Building and will begin on Tuesday July 13, then continue every Tuesday and Thursday until Thursday July 29. This is to accommodate the increased number of food handlers which need to be processed.
Participants are encouraged to pre-register for the sessions by calling the Environmental Health Division at 468-5110 to indicate the date and time of the session they will be attending.
Environmental Health Officer with the Environmental Health Division, Mrs. Yolanda Penn encourages “Food handlers whose cards expire in July to renew early by attending a session in June.” She emphasized that in June, sessions will only be held on Tuesday mornings.
The EHD advises that registration for the morning sessions begin at 8:30 a.m., with the session starting at 9:00 a.m. Registration for afternoon sessions begins at 1:30 p.m. and the session will start at 2:00 p.m. Some vital information that will be shared during the clinics includes proper holding temperatures for food, personal hygiene, and proper attire for food handlers and requirements for ensuring that booths are properly equipped.
Mrs. Penn stated “The Food Handlers Clinics are designed to ensure that persons working in restaurants or other food establishments are educated in the areas of proper personal hygiene and safe food handling practices.”
The Environmental Health Officer explained that at the end of each clinic, food handlers would receive either a temporary or permanent food handler card. This card ensures that the food handler is certified to work in the food establishment or booth and to handle food for the public.
Mrs. Penn further explained that the permanent cards are valid for one year while the temporary card is valid for approximately two months or the duration of a special event.
Chief Environmental Health Officer, Mr. Carnel Smith advises the public to safe guard their health and be vigilant when purchasing food. He stated that “booth operators and food handlers should not handle food while inappropriately dressed. Mr. Smith explained that “proper attire helps to prevent sweat and hair from falling into meals prepared”. He also stated that food handlers should not wear nail polish, long nails or jewellery and they should practice wearing proper hair coverings to restrain loose hair”.
The Environmental Health Division is the government agency under the portfolio of the Ministry of Health and Social Development, responsible for the management of food hygiene, water quality, and vector control and port health programs.
British Virgin Islands News