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Benton County Environmental Health - Food Handler

Food Worker Card • Food Handler Manual • Food Handler Class • Food Handling Tips
Handwashing • Handling Food During Power Outages

Information for Food Workers

Food Worker Card
All food service workers in the State of Oregon are required to have a valid food handler permit, issued by an Oregon county health department. This permit, called the Food Worker Card, is valid anywhere in Oregon for three years.

Food Handler Manual
You must take a Food Handler class to get the Food Worker Card, but before you take the class, you need to obtain and study the Food Handler booklet. You can download an English or Spanish version of the booklet, check it out from the library, or come by the office (address below) for a hard copy.

Food Handler Class

Food Handler Training and Testing is now available online.

However, you can still attend one of our weekly classes in person at the Environmental Health Department building. Classes are offered each week at:

Benton County Public Services Building
530 NW 27th St.
Corvallis, OR

You should enter through the Polk Avenue door, and go up the stairs. No appointments are taken, so please arrive five minutes before the session you wish to attend.

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Food Handler Class Schedule

• English: Thursday mornings at 9:30 am and again at 3:30 pm
  English Food Handler Booklet: Food Safety: Your Self Training Manual (PDF)

• Spanish: Friday afternoons at 1:30 pm
  Spanish Food Handler Booklet: La Seguridad en los Alimentos que Ingerimos Manual de Auto-Capacitación (PDF)

Note: Upon request, the written test is available in the following languages: Vietnamese, Russian, Chinese, Korean and Cambodian. The video for the scheduled classes are shown in English or Spanish; however, you may still take a test in other language – please let us know at the front desk before class begins.

Cost: The cost of the Food Worker's Permit/Card is $10.00. There is no charge for attending the class or taking the test, only for issuing of the official card. Upon payment, the card is issued the same day of the test and is good throughout the State of Oregon for three years.

Renewals: If your current food handler card is about to expire, you must attend one of the scheduled class times and take the exam in order to obtain a new card.

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Food Handler Tips

Important Temperatures to Study:
Danger Zone: 41° F to 140° F

Potentially Hazardous Foods and Their Required Temperatures:
Poultry & Stuffing: 165° F (74 C)
Hamburger/Ground Beef: 155° F (68 C)
Pork, Beef, Lamb, Seafood, and Eggs: 145°F (63 C)

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Handwashing

Handwashing is Important!
Some germs are harmless, others cause serious illness. Germs grow fast! You can prevent dangerous germs from growing. How? By washing your hands using a mechanical action (friction, rubbing) soap and/or detergent, and flushing the germs away by use of running hot water. Lather and rub for 20 seconds, and rinse twice. (It is also recommended that food workers have a nail brush to clean under fingernails.) Turn the water faucets on and off using paper towels (germs sit on handles). Dry hands with a paper towel, open restroom door, and throw away the towel.

Handwashing 101: The point cannot be made often enough, hand washing is the single-most important means of preventing the spread of infection. Simple acts like blowing your nose, using the toilet or scratching your face can contaminate hands with potentially deadly bacteria. Those germs can be spread to food if you fail to wash your hands frequently and thoroughly. Here's a little refresher course on hand washing requirements for food workers.

Hands must be washed:

• Before preparing foods or putting on gloves
• After touching human body parts (other than clean arms or hands)
• After using the toilet
• After caring for or touching an animal
• After coughing, sneezing, using a tissue or handkerchief, using tobacco, eating or drinking
• After engaging in any activities that might contaminate the hands, like taking out garbage, handling soiled utensils or equipment, handling cleaning chemicals
• During food preparation when switching from working with raw meats and fish to ready-to-eat foods

If you have to remove a mop or food scraps from the sink basin in order to get your hands washed, then you're at the wrong sink. The Food Code unequivocally states that hand washing sinks must be dedicated to the task at hand.

Hand washing lavatories are to be equipped with liquid or powder soap, hot water, and a hand drying device (no cloth towels). Disposable nail brushes, and a sanitizing solution are also recommended.

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Caution Handling Food During Power Outage

Benton County’s Environmental Health Division recommends caution when handling food during power outages.

"Without refrigeration, foods could become contaminated with illness-causing bacteria," says Bill Emminger, deputy administrator for Benton County Health Department’s Division of Environmental Health. "Consumers should use caution with refrigerated or frozen food at home during any outage." He also reminds residents that during a power outage hot water may not be available, or, for residents with a well with an electric pump, there may be no water available.

In most cases of power failure, commercial food establishments should be closed," says Emminger. "However, facilities with backup power generation or gas-powered appliances, such as stoves or hot water heaters, could possibly continue to operate."

These facilities also need access to large amounts of ice for cooling foods and maintaining proper temperatures. In addition, they must implement alternative procedures to continue to comply with Food Sanitation Rules. Business owners should check with the county’s environmental health specialists to determine if they can continue to operate in a safe and sanitary manner.

Some facilities may limit items to the sale of foods that are not potentially hazardous or foods that require little or no preparation. For example, some limited service facilities such as taverns and donut shops that don’t serve potentially hazardous foods may continue to operate.

Foods that are potentially hazardous when not refrigerated include:

• Meats, poultry, and seafood
• Milk and milk products
• Eggs and starchy foods including potatoes, rice, beans, pasta, and cooked vegetables

The county offers the following safety tips for consumers and food vendors handling refrigerated foods during a power outage:

• Potentially hazardous foods must be evaluated to determine whether proper storage temperatures have been maintained while the refrigerator power was out. Take into account the amount of time the power has been out, the type of storage unit, the kinds of foods, and the form the foods are in. While the power is out, be sure to keep refrigerator doors closed.

• If the power has been out less than 4 hours, check the temperature of potentially hazardous foods to make sure they are at least 41°F or below. Foods above 41°F should be cooled immediately in ice to 41°F and returned to the refrigerator with the ice left around the items.

• If the power has already been off for more than 4 hours, food temperatures should be checked. Any potentially hazardous foods with a minimum temperature of 41°F (or less) can be iced immediately. Those potentially hazardous foods with temperatures above 41°F should be discarded.

• If it is not known how long the power has been out, assume it has been more than 4 hours and take temperatures of potentially hazardous foods; ice them immediately if they are no higher than 41°F. Any potentially hazardous foods with temperatures above 41°F should be discarded. Generally, "when in doubt, throw it out."

If you have questions about food safety, please contact Benton County’s food protection environmental health specialists, Scott Kruger or Robert Baker at 541.766.6841.

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