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Food worker classes The Snohomish Health District conducts food handler classes at 3 p.m. Mondays, 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Thursdays, and 6 p.m. the third Monday and third Thursday of each month. No advance registration is required. The 90-minute class, which ends with an exam, is held at the Snohomish Health District, 3020 Rucker Ave., Everett. Cost is $10, cash only; food worker cards are valid for two years. Information: 425-339-5200 or www.snohd.org.

CONTACT THE HERALD

Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com

$10 for food safety class was money well spent

By Julie Muhlstein, Herald Columnist

It's been ages since I suffered from No. 2 pencil, fill-in-the-bubble test anxiety.

There I was, opening the exam booklet, reading each question, picking the answers. The guy next to me finished quickly, which made me nervous.

Ah, but my careful deliberation had its reward -- a perfect score on the 32-question test required to get a state of Washington food worker card. With my freshly minted card, I'm good to go as a food service worker.

I took the food handler class Thursday in the Snohomish Health District's auditorium in downtown Everett. For $10, I got my card, perfect-score bragging rights, and enough smarts to keep anyone sampling my cooking from a nasty case of food poisoning.

Ask me anything. A burger? Cook that meat to at least 155 degrees Fahrenheit. Chicken? Make it 10 degrees hotter. Your hands? Scrub for 20 seconds.

I know about keeping cold foods cold, hot foods hot, and about the temperature danger zone in between that allows bacteria to grow. I know how to prevent cross-contamination, and why melons can cause food-borne illness just as meat and poultry can.

I know something else, too. Every time I eat at a restaurant, I'll gladly remember that all food service workers in Washington are required by state law to pass a test showing they've learned safe practices for preparing and storing what's on the menu.

I'll also be more careful at home. I'm guilty of junk-mail and school-paper clutter, but I am careful about chicken, cutting boards and such. Still, the class made me more aware of how to safely thaw frozen foods and quickly cool leftovers.

There's no career change in my immediate future, no Julie's Bar and Grill about to open. Baseball brought me to food-card class. At the first meeting with my son's North Everett Little League coach, a plea came for parents to help in the Garfield Park concession stand. The place serves hamburgers -- the league Web site goes so far as to dub them "famous burgers."

Concession stand volunteers need food handler permits. And anyway, who'd want to be responsible for flipping an infamous burger?

Even Rick Zahalka, manager of the Snohomish Health District's Food and Living Environment Section, isn't exempt from a food handler class.

"I had to get my card to help out at the concession stand," said Zahalka, whose children have been involved in soccer and softball.

Almost 800 temporary food service permits are issued each year, for all sorts of venues. "If a member of the public can walk in off the street and receive food, the event is considered open to the public," Zahalka said. The health district brings classes to businesses and community groups if at least 20 people sign up, he said.

It's not just cooks, either. Wait staff, dishwashers and some grocery workers also need the cards.

With Snohomish County booming, Zahalka said demand for the classes is growing. In 2007, the health district issued 19,789 food handler cards, up from 15,272 in 2002. "That's a 29 percent increase in five years," he said. "The county is growing, and it shows."

About 60 students, most of them young adults, were in my class. Zahalka said some summer classes draw more than 100. Classes are offered in Spanish, and tests are available in several other languages as well.

"It's a very basic introductory course into food safety. It allows people to understand that mishandled food can make you sick," said Zahalka. Manager certification training is available, but not required, for chefs and managers with complex menus, he added.

The most basic tidbits aren't too appetizing, but they are worth repeating: "Personal hygiene is the No. 1 failure," Zahalka said. Most food-borne illnesses, he said, can be blamed on inadequate hand-washing and workers showing up sick. With many workers earning minimum wage and lacking sick leave, that's a challenge.

The health district has one-and-a-half full-time positions devoted to food handler education.

"They do a great job," Zahalka said. "They get people to listen and learn."

Reassuring? The correct answer is: yes.

Columnist Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460 or muhlstein@heraldnet.com.