Jefferson County, CO—Jefferson County Public Health has announced its 2012 Leader in Food Safety. This year the award goes to Santiago’s Mexican Restaurant located at 715 Washington Avenue in Golden. Santiago’s was selected as a leader in food safety because it successfully met the following criteria:
- Employees routinely attend a certified food safety training.
- No presumptive food borne illness during the past 12 months.
- No violations during the past 12 months involving food temperatures, cross contamination, and hand washing that haven't been corrected as required.
The restaurant was recognized this morning, September 11, 2012, as a leader in food safety by Jefferson County Public Health’s Food Safety Program and JCPH Executive Director, Mark B. Johnson, M.D. This year marks the 12th anniversary of the award.
Preventing foodborne illness isn’t easy and takes commitment from everyone. With over 2,000 licensed food service establishments in the County, the nine JCPH Environmental Health Specialists who spend their days inspecting the facilities for adherence to food safety regulations have plenty of work to do.
Performing over 3,600 food safety inspections yearly in Jefferson County, they help prevent foodborne illness outbreaks and assure that Jefferson County citizens and visitors are provided with safe food. Staff works closely with the establishments and are thankful that many make food safety a priority. ”The Leader in Food Safety Award, is our way of showing appreciation to the food service establishments in Jefferson County who go out of their way to assure foodborne illness isn’t on the menu. We want to thank the staff and the management of Santiago’s for their prevention efforts and encourage the community to thank them as well” said, Dave Hooker, Food Safety Program Supervisor.
JCPH announces its “leaders in food safety” during National Food Safety and Education Month each September and urges everyone to learn more about safe food handling and preparation techniques. Preventing foodborne illness continues to be an important public health challenge. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that: one in six Americans (or 48 million people) gets sick from, and 3,000 die of, foodborne diseases each year.
For more information please call Jefferson County Food Safety Program at 303-271-5700 or visit our web site at www.jeffco.us/health.
To learn more about the regular inspections of your favorite restaurants in Jefferson County, click on the Retail Food Inspection link on our web site at www.jeffco.us/health.
To view photos from today’s award presentation, visit our JCPH Flickr web page: http://bit.ly/REnsRd
