Food Services
This program includes licensing, plan review, inspection, construction and disease investigation of facilities serving food to the public.
The Big 4 Illnesses
The big 4 illnesses are foodborne illnesses that are considered especially dangerous because they are commmonly found in raw or improperly handled food, highly contagious and may cause serious illness and/or death.
They are:
- Typhoid Fever (Salmonella typhi): Commonly found in poultry, pork, beef, and household pets. Smyptoms include headache, abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea, and sometimes vomiting. Fecal excretion usually persists for several days or weeks, but on occasion persists months to years.
- E. coli (Escherchia coli 0157:H7): Commonly found in uncooked beef; can be spread person to person and through drinking contaminated water. The primary symptom is diarrhea, usually occuring without fever. E coli is highly contagious and occasionally fatal. It is estimated that 3% of all raw hamburger (ground beef) is contaminated.
- Dysentery (Shigella spp.): Commonly spread person to person through fecal oral transmission. Syptoms include diarrhea, (often bloody, watery, or containing mucus), fever, and sometimes vomiting and cramps. Most commonly spread by people who fail to properly wash their hands. Infection can be caused by as few as 10 organisms.
- Hepatitis A (HAV, Hepatovirus): Commonly spread person to person through fecal oral transmission. Syptoms include fever, malaise, anorexia, nausea, and abdominal discomfort followed within a few days by jaundice. Foodborne epidemics are commonly caused by poor handwashing and cross contamination.
To protect against these and other foodborne illnesses
Hand Washing Procedure
- Use water as hot as the hands can comfortably stand.
- Moisten hands thoroughly, and lather to the elbow.
- Scrub thoroughly using brush for nails.
- Rub hands together, using friction for 20 seconds.
- Rinse thoroughly under running water.
- Dry hands, using single-service towels or hot air dryer.
Safe Food Temperatures
- Reheat all foods and cook poultry, stuffed meats, pastas, stuffing, and microwaved foods to 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Cook ground beef and pork products to 155 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Cook roast beef, fish, and eggs to 145 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Keep all hot foods at 140 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Cool foods quickly to 40 degrees Fahrenheit or below.
- Keep all cold food at 40 degrees Fahrenheit or below.
Possible Cooling Solutions
- Use more "cook & serve" food
- Reduce large quantities of heated foods to smaller portions
- Use ice baths to cool and stir every 15 minutes
- Use shallow metal pans (2" or less). Leave uncovered and stir every hour
- Purchase a blast chiller
- Use ice wands.
Guidelines for Labeling and Date Marking
- What: Potentially Hazardous Foods (that require temperature control to prevent bacteria growth such as raw meat); ready-to-eat foods (not normally washed or foods prepared by establishment such as potato salad) = which are held under refrigeration for more than a cumulative total of 24 hours before sale or service.
- When: As soon as the original package is opened (such as lunch meat), and also when a food item is prepared (coleslaw, salad dressing).
- Why: Some bacteria grow slowly under refrigeration and over time may multiply to hazardous levels.
- REMEMBER.......
- Date and label all leftovers, anything prepared that will not be served immediately, and all foods that are cooled down and refrigerated such as soups and chilli.
- Date with BOTH the date opened/prepared AND include the discard date.
- Cold holding of 41 degrees Fahrenheit = 7 days
- Cold holding of 45 degrees Fahrenheit = 4 days
Michigan Department of Agriculture Links:
The LMAS District Health Department, Environmental Health Division has for sale
Probe Thermometers for $11.00 and
Chlorine Test Strips for $8.00
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