Volunteers Take Food Safety Training

More than 3,000 Nova Scotia volunteers took part in courses last year that helped them protect the public while handling food, according to 2002 statistics from the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries' food safety section.

"Fund-raisers, community events and other volunteer activities are a normal part of living in Nova Scotia," said Gordon Balser, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries. "Volunteers and others across the province have access to the latest information about safe food handling through these courses."

Food safety experts provided three- and six-hour courses to 3,743 food handlers, including community and church volunteers, workers in the food industry and students. The courses provide participants with information about food-borne diseases, hand washing, pest control, cleaning and sanitizing, and the proper ways to prepare, ship and store food.

Members of the volunteer fire department in Midville, Lunenburg Co., often prepare food for community events like the firefighters' breakfast. They recently took a three-hour food handler course in their own facility. "The food safety information we received was extremely valuable and certainly will add to the success of future events," said Ronnie Wilneff, chief of the Midville and district volunteer fire department.

In 2002, 17 employees from the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries' food safety section conducted 9,695 inspections of establishments that serve food, including restaurants, school cafeterias, day-cares and some community centres. In Nova Scotia, there were more than 5,000 licensed food establishments last year.

The department also received and investigated 386 public complaints regarding food handling, suspected food poisoning, poor sanitation and other issues. That is about the same number as in previous years.

"Closing a facility is the last thing we want to have happen, so we have incorporated a strong mandate of education into the inspection program," said Mike Horwich, provincial manager of the food safety section. "This allows us to maintain consumer safety and allows facilities to remain open and in business."

Food safety educators also tried to educate consumers about good food handling practices. Television, radio and print media were used to reach a wide audience and to advise consumers what they can do to prevent food borne illness. Information is also available in the food safety section of the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries Web site at www.gov.ns.ca/nsaf .