A Bothell restaurant owner who says he uses recipes developed by his Italian-American family is one of seven food establishments receiving awards from the Snohomish Health District for excellence in food safety.
The restaurant, Readi Spaghetti, at 21225 Bothell-Everett Highway, has been open just under two years, said owner Jonny Anderson. It was selected in the category of full menu restaurants.
?We cook all our products from scratch,? Anderson said. ?They?re all my great grandma?s recipes.?
The family came from southern Italy. ?We take all the family recipes and make them on a daily basis,? he said.
The restaurant takes a number of steps to ensure food safety, such as testing the temperature of food twice a day, establishing food inspection sheets and keeping logs of food temperatures, Anderson said.
A health district inspector described the restaurant?s ownership as recognizing the importance of food safety from the day it opened, said Gary Hanada, who manages the health district?s food program.
Preparing and keeping food at the right temperature is key to preventing foodborne illnesses, such as salmonella and E. coli 0157:H7.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that each year foodborne illnesses cause about one in six people to get sick, 128,000 people to be hospitalized and 3,000 people to die from contaminated food.
Full menu restaurants, those with the most menu offerings, are inspected three times each year, Hanada said.
Country Burger, an Arlington restaurant at 3110 Lakewood Road, won in the fast service category. It is owned by David Babeaux. The health district called his restaurant ?one of the cleanest and best-operated food facilities in Snohomish County.?
Babeaux said he has owned the restaurant about four years and makes a point of setting the right example of practicing good food safety habits. ?We have all teenagers who work here,? he said. ?We get a lot of turnover with high school kids going to college.?
Among the steps practiced at the restaurant are frequent hand washing and wearing disposable gloves when handling food. ?All these things we hammer on and it paid off with a nice award.? Babeaux said.
Winners in other categories were:
Limited Menu Establishment ? Cold Stone Creamery, 3000 184th St. S.W. Lynnwood, which had zero food safety violations in the last four health district inspections.
Grocery Store ? Wal-Mart, 4010 172nd St. N.E., Arlington and Haggens, 1301 Ave. D, Snohomish, both of which were cited by the health district for excellence in sanitation practices.
School/Industry/Institution ? Cascade High School, 810 E. Casino Rd., Everett, which serves lunch to 1800 students each day.
Temporary food establishment ? Ohana BBQ, which was inspected during the Marysville Strawberry Festival.
The health district created its awards program in 1989.
Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486; salyer@heraldnet.com
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