Island Food Industry Attends 'Serve Safe' Lessons

Two food handling classes were held Sunday, June 4, and Monday, June 5, through ServSafe, a program that educates food industry workers. The classes were taught by Nancy Laber, a Michigan sanitarian, who emphasized the importance of protecting customers, employers, and employees through education.

Forty food handlers attended a 2.5-hour class at Community Hall Sunday evening, scheduled to accommodate worker schedules.

Proper personal hygiene, avoiding cross contamination, proper cleaning and sanitizing, and time-temperature abuse awareness, which involved educating workers about the proper temperatures with which to store food, are the four principles that Ms. Laber emphasized.

The second class, held on Monday, June 5, at Mackinac Island Public School, was a sixhour ServSafe certification class which was co-sponsored by the National Restaurant Association

Education Foundation. This class stressed the reasons behind food-borne illness. This program was a more in-depth look at food safety, said Ms. Laber. Some microbiology of food-borne illness, such as salmonella, was also discussed and explained.

The 25 registered students received materials in advance and studied them before taking a national ServSafe certification exam. Participants must score 75 percent or higher to receive a certificate.