 April 08, 2003
"Like many other states around the country, Alaska is reevaluating how to best protect consumers from foodborne illness by creating a food safety program that provides an equal level of protection to all areas of the state, without an emphasis on inspections," said DEC's Environmental Health Director Kristin Ryan. "Under the redesigned program, food establishment operators and employees will need to take a higher level of responsibility for ensuring the safety of the food they prepare, serve and sell," said Ryan. This higher level of responsibility includes having knowledgeable staff and controlling the practices and processes that most often contribute to a foodborne illness, such as employee hand washing and cooling food prepared in advance. Methods under consideration include food safety training and certification for managers and workers, written procedures for certain practices and processes, monitoring and record keeping for higher risk processes, and self-inspections. "We're very interested in hearing from food establishment operators, consumers, agencies, associations and university programs related to the food industry to help us determine the new standards for food establishments," Ryan said. To participate in the survey,
visit the program's website at: www.state.ak.us/dec/deh/sanitat/homesan.htm
and click on Take our Survey: Important changes in the Alaska
Food Program! Your opinion's needed. or
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