Restaurants can either cook a hamburger hot and quick or slightly cooler and longer.
And if you’re a restaurant worker who uses fingernail polish or has artificial fingernails, you’ll have to wear gloves while preparing food.
Those and other changes could go into effect this year in Snohomish County as the state adopts consistent restaurant food handling standards.
Now, restaurant workers are required to cook hamburgers until they reach 155 degrees, said Rick Miklich, food program manager for the Snohomish Health District.
Under the proposed regulations, a hamburger must be cooked until it hits 155 degrees for 15 seconds, cooked at 145 degrees for three minutes or cooked until it reaches a temperature of 158 degrees, when cooking can stop, he said.
Any of the three provide the same safety factor, Miklich said. Germs are killed based on the time meat is cooked and at what temperature.
Health officials have emphasized the importance of thoroughly cooking hamburgers because undercooked ground beef has caused E. coli outbreaks.
The new regulations would allow foods such as cooked chicken and pizza to be displayed for sale without being heated for up to four hours, Miklich said. However, the food must be destroyed if it is not sold in that time.
The Snohomish Health District inspects 2,600 restaurants, grocery stores, cafeterias and other food establishments in the county to ensure safe food handling. That helps prevent the spread of disease from foodborne outbreaks.
The new standards are based on federal Food and Drug Administration regulations. The state Health Department’s board is expected to discuss the changes in September.
If approved, the changes could go into effect in Snohomish County 30 days later.
The changes are being made at the request of the Legislature, which asked the state Health Department to revise food-handling requirements based on the federal standards, Miklich said.
Adoption of the new standards will require the countywide public health agency to change its restaurant inspection forms. It also will need to update the training it provides to 15,000 food workers each year, he said.
Reporter Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486 or salyer@heraldnet.com.
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