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DPH revises test for food handlers
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Posted on Feb 10 1999
The Department of Public Health is planning to amend the new regulation on food handlers so that it does not become too costly for businesses that are already reeling from the effects of Asia’s financial crisis.
Public Health Secretary Kevin Villagomez said he will meet with the members of the Hotel Association of Northern Mariana Islands to consult them on the planned amendments.
Although the new regulation took effect on January 28, Villagomez said he is looking at the possibility of deferring its full implementation.
Ron Sablan, president of HANMI, said the association would like to discuss with public health officials their proposals to the new regulation. “We are happy that they are taking our concerns into consideration,” he said.
Under the new regulation, all food handlers will be required to be screened annually for food-borne bacteria such as salmonella, shigella, campylobacter, intestinal parasites, among others.
According to Villagomez, it was aimed at controlling the spread of food-borne diseases in the community which can be passed on through the handling, processing and serving of food to the customers.
HANMI has criticized the test because it would impose additional cost on businesses that are already suffering from the economic crisis. According to the association, the test would cost $150 per employee, not to mention that lost man-hours and cumbersome paper works.
As a result, HANMI suggested that government should just “roll such proposed screening into the existing health exam requirements.”
The regulation defines food handlers as any worker engaged in the handling, processing and manufacture of food like waitresses, waiters, bartenders, packers and cooks.
