The Dangers of Food Contamination
Why there is a need to take FOODSAFE in Thunder Bay? When food is contaminated, depending the state of a person’s health, there is a great chance that the person who ingested it will get sick. They may experience symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhea, nausea, upset stomach, and abdominal cramps and pain. While this condition – colloquially called food poisoning – is known to resolve in as soon as two to three days, there are cases that manifest severe symptoms and are prolonged – taking as long as a week (or more).
The scariest thing that could happen to a person infected with foodborne illness is dehydration. Training at Thunder Bay First Aid emphasizes fluid replacement at home for anyone experience vomiting and diarrhea, particularly if he or she starts to experience symptoms off dehydration – dry mucous membranes, thirst, irritability and changing levels of consciousness, and decreasing urine output.
How to Keep FOODSAFE in Thunder Bay
Learning proper food handling – safe food handling – is the best thing you can do to prevent food contamination. Reading articles and blog posts on the internet is great, but actually training in a legitimate program, learning from experts is still the best way to go. This is why the health departments all over the province of Ontario (Thunder Bay included) emphasize the importance of mandatory food handler training – which is a bylaw in the province. All medium-risk and high-risk facilities are required to have a certified food handler present in the facility at all times of operation (when food is being handled or the facility being cleaned).
High-risk facilities (at least three inspections a year)
- A facility associated with a previous case of foodborne illness
- A facility that serves vulnerable members of the population such as the very young and very old
- A facility that practices a long process (many steps) in preparing food or serving foods that are often associated with foodborne illness, such as full-menu restos, catering operations, food packaging and preparing factories)
- A facility without an effective hazard analysis critical control point
Medium-risk facilities (at least two inspections a year)
- A facility that prepares hazardous food that is not high-risk
- A facility that prepares non-hazardous food with extensive handling by food handlers, like bakeries
Your Training Program
Food safety training and FOODSAFE in Thunder Bay First Aid is divided into basic and advanced training; the former needs to be completed before proceeding to the latter.
- When you enroll in a basic food safety course (8 hours), you will be learning about basic microbiology, foodborne illness, personal health and hygiene, the health unit and foodborne illness, and sanitation. It is an introductory course, targeting frontline workers (people who directly handle food) and people who cook/serve food in their own homes or similar places.
- An advanced course focuses on management, being targeted towards business owners, managers, and executive chefs – people with supervisory capacity. You will learn concepts regarding health licenses, staff training, and general sanitation.
Training credentials are awarded to trainees who complete the program and pass the certification exam. The certificate expires after five years, but can be renewed by taking a refresher course and another certification exam.