FOOD MANAGER TRAINING OFFERED AUG. 18-19

AMARILLO – Texas restaurants are required by law to have certified food managers. To train these service professionals, Texas Cooperative Extension of Potter, Randall and Armstrong counties will offer a manager certification course called “Food Safety: It’s Our Business” on Aug. 18-19.

The event will be at the Extension Office and Kimble 4-H Center, 3301 E. 10th in Amarillo. The deadline for registration is Aug. 2.

“This hands-on learning experience equips participants with the latest food safety principles and practices to prepare for the examination,” said Sue Church, Extension agent family and consumer sciences in Amarillo.

The course fee of $79 includes training, materials and the state food manager certification examination. A test-only option is available but recommended only for those with a strong food safety background. Cost for the test without the training is $35. New food manager certificates are valid for five years.

On average, one in four Americans become sick each year from a food borne illness. One in 1,000 people are hospitalized and 5,000 die from ingesting unsafe food.

Course instructors will teach ways to identify potential hazardous foods, prevent common errors in food handling, and methods preventing contamination and cross-contamination of food. Other topics will include personal hygiene for employees, compliance with governmental regulations, clean work area, utensil and equipment maintenance in addition to safe pest control methods.

From July through December, Extension has 23 such courses and examinations scheduled statewide. Dates, locations and contact information for the certification opportunities is available online at http://foodsafety.tamu.edu.

For details about the course in Amarillo, contact Church at (806) 373-0713, Leesa Calvi (806) 468-5543, or Leicia Redwine (806) 226-3021.

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