Food Sanitation Food Safety at Home
Private
Sewage Disposal Private Water Wells
Body Art
Food
Establishment Inspection Reports are available
with a written request to the Health Department.
Application for
Permit - Food Service Establishment
Application
for Permit - Temporary Food Service Establishment
Food
Service Sanitation Manager Course Registration Form – January 2012
Restaurants
and other food service establishments must have a permit from Bond County
Health Department (BCHD). There is no
charge. Establishments with a permit are
inspected one to three times per year, depending on their risk category. The inspector looks for violations of the
Food Service Sanitation Code. He reviews
good food sanitation practices with the manager and explains how Code
violations can be corrected.
Food
service establishments that serve primarily elderly or pre-schoolers
are classified as Category 1.
Establishments whose food preparation involves multiple steps,
especially cook-cool-reheat, are also in Category 1. All these must have a certified food
sanitation manager on duty at all times food is being prepared.
Businesses
that prepare food, but are not a Category 1, must have a certified food
sanitation manager on staff.
BCHD
offers classes to prepare participants for the exam to obtain the Food Service
Sanitation Manager Certificate. We also
give the refresher course required before renewing the certificate.
Temporary
food serving activities must have a permit if the event lasts more than two
days.
The
Health Department investigates complaints from the public concerning possible
violations.
In case of suspected foodborne illness:
Seek
treatment as necessary. If symptoms
persist or are severe (such as bloody diarrhea, excessive vomiting or high
temperature), call the doctor.
Call
the Health Department if the suspect food was served at a large gathering,
from a restaurant or other food service facility, or if it is a commercial
product.
Preserve
the evidence. If a portion of the
suspect food is available, wrap it securely, mark "DANGER" and
refrigerate it. Save all the packaging
materials, such as cans or cartons.
Write down the food type, the date, other identifying marks on the
package, the time consumed, and when the onset of symptoms occurred.
II. Food S
afety at Home:
Clean. Bacteria
can spread throughout the kitchen and get on hands, cutting boards,
knives,
and countertops. Frequent cleaning can
keep that from happening.
·
Wash your hands with warm water and soap for 20 seconds
before and after handling food.
·
Wash cutting boards, dishes, utensils and counter tops
with hot soapy water after preparing each food item and before you go on to the
next food.
·
Consider using paper towels to clean up kitchen
surfaces. If you use cloth towels wash them often in the hot cycle of your
washing machine.
·
Rinse fresh fruits and vegetables under running tap
water, including those with skins and rinds that are not eaten.
·
Rub firm-skin fruits and vegetables under running tap
water or scrub with a clean vegetable brush while rinsing with running tap
water.
Separate. Cross-contamination is how bacteria spreads. Keep raw
meat, poultry, and
seafood and their juices away from ready-to-eat foods.
·
Use one cutting board for fresh produce and a separate
one for raw meat, poultry and seafood.
·
Separate raw meat, poultry, seafood and eggs from other
foods in your grocery shopping cart, grocery bags and in your refrigerator.
·
Never place cooked food on a plate that previously held
raw meat, poultry, seafood or eggs.
Cook. Even for experienced cooks, the improper
heating and preparation of food
means bacteria can survive.
·
Make sure that meat, poultry, egg dishes, casseroles and
other foods are cooked to a safe internal temperature.
·
Use a food thermometer to measure the internal
temperature of cooked foods. Color is
not a reliable indicator of doneness.
·
Cook eggs until the yolk and white are firm. Only use recipes in which eggs are cooked or
heated thoroughly.
·
Bring sauces, soups and gravy to a boil when re-heating.
Chill. Bacteria multiply
fastest at temperatures between 40°F and 140°F, so chilling food
properly is one of the most effective ways to reduce the
risk of foodborne illness.
·
Chill leftovers and takeout foods within 2 hours. Keep
the fridge at 40°F or below and use an appliance thermometer to check the
temperature.
·
Refrigerate or freeze meat, poultry, eggs and other
perishables as soon as you get them home from the store.
·
Never defrost food at room temperature. Food must be kept at a safe temperature
during thawing. There are three safe
ways to defrost food: in the refrigerator, in cold water, and in
the microwave. Food thawed in cold water
or in the microwave should be cooked immediately.
Get
a Permit Before Installing! You must
have a permit from the Bond County Health Department before installing, replacing or modifying a private sewage disposal
system.
Planning
to build? No public sewer system?
Arrange a conference with your general contractor and sewage system
installer to discuss the location of the sewage disposal system. Keep the system components away from the well
and water line. If the system will drain
treated water to the surface, avoid draining to the road ditch or to the
neighbor's property without written permission.
Get a permit before construction begins.
If
you have sewage water surfacing from your lateral field, or slow draining
toilets or drains, or sewage odors, call a sewage system professional. He can determine whether your system needs
routine servicing or major modifications.
If water from your washing machine or shower or sink drains to a ditch
or ground surface, that drain line must be altered to carry the water to the
septic tank. Such modifications will
require a permit from the Health Department.
In
applying for the permit, the homeowner provides information about the property
to be served by the system; the installer describes the system he plans to
install. This allows the BCHD Sanitarian
to confirm that the proposal conforms to the State Code and the County
Ordinance. There is a permit fee.
Installation
must not begin before a permit is issued.
The Sanitarian visits the site during installation to confirm that the
approved plan is followed.
BCHD
investigates complaints about systems that are suspected of not adequately
treating sewage. A written complaint
with a description of the offending situation is helpful.
Maintain
Your Sewage Disposal System
All
sewage disposal systems require maintenance.
Septic tanks should be pumped every three to five years, or more often
if State Regulations require. Aerobic
treatment units have mechanical parts; they should be serviced by a
professional every six months.
Wastewater
treated by an aerobic unit or a sand filter can be drained to the ground
surface; but it must first be disinfected.
Keep chlorine tablets in the chlorine dispenser at all times. Use chlorine tablets made for sewage disposal
systems. Swimming pool tablets do not dissolve fast enough to provide the required
amount of chlorine.
Conserve
water to avoid overloading your system.
Repair leaky faucets and toilets.
Don't
allow anyone to drive or park over your septic tank, sand filter, absorption
lines, or any other part of your system.
Don't
poison your system by pouring harmful chemicals and cleaners down the
drain. Harsh chemicals can kill the
beneficial bacteria that treat your wastewater.
Don't
flush anything that doesn't come out of your body, except toilet paper.
Water
wells are drilled by drillers licensed by the State of Illinois. A permit from Bond County Health Department
is required for each well. The permit
fee is $100. The driller must observe
the required minimum distances from sewage disposal systems and other potential
sources of contamination.
The
owner of a new well must submit a water sample for testing by the Illinois
Department of Public health lab. BCHD
distributes sample bottles meeting the lab's standards. Test results are interpreted by the BCHD
Sanitarian. The Sanitarian will collect
the water sample if the homeowner requests.
The sample is usually taken from the inside faucet nearest the well.
BCHD
encourages homeowners to have their water tested annually, especially if there
is or will be a young child in the household.
Sample bottles are available from BCHD.
The homeowner ships the sample by UPS or similar carrier to get the
sample to the lab on the day after sampling.
The
BCHD Sanitarian will inspect a well and obtain a water sample on request if
there is a valid public health related reason.
The
Bond County Health Department requests that any sickness caused by drinking
well water in the county be reported to BCHD.
Any known or observed instances of contaminating or polluting ground
water should be reported.
Wells
that are no longer used for supplying water and wells that are in a state of
disrepair (broken well top, crumbling brick or concrete) should be sealed by a
licensed well driller. A homeowner or
farm owner can seal a well on property he lives on or farms after obtaining
written permission from BCHD. The well
sealing must be done in a manner allowed by the State Water Well Code.
The
Bond County Nuisance Ordinance assigns the responsibility of enforcing the
ordinance to the Bond County Health Department.
The
Ordinance defines a nuisance as "any condition which may be offensive and detrimental
to a person or his property or which may constitute a hazard to the health of
any person." It lists several
situations that might be considered nuisances.
Complaints
must be made in writing and signed by the complainant.
The
Bond County Health Department inspects tanning beds annually and reports
results to the Illinois Department of Public Health. Businesses with tanning beds must have a
permit from the Illinois Department of Public Health.
People
using tanning beds should be aware of the following:
·
Long-term
exposure to ultraviolet rays, in tanning beds or from natural sunlight,
increases the risk of developing skin cancer.
·
Those
with fair skin are most at risk for skin damage and skin cancer.
·
Certain
medications increase a person's susceptibility to skin damage by UV rays. Determine whether any of your medications
increase sensitivity to light.
·
Tanners
should use protective eyewear approved for tanning bed use.
·
Observe
the schedule of maximum tanning session times posted on each bed. The length of tanning session is related to
your skin type and how long you have been tanning.
VII. Body
Art:
Tattooing,
body piercing, cosmetic tattooing, branding and
scarification are considered body art.
Any
person who does body art procedures must do such work in a body art
establishment with a current certificate of registration from the Illinois
Department of Public Health (IDPH). BCHD
inspects licensed body art establishments annually on behalf of the IDPH.
Risks
associated with body art done with improperly sterilized equipment include skin
infections and bloodborne diseases such as Hepatitis C, Hepatitis B and HIV.
Office Hours
Monday
- Friday
8:30
a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Bond
County Health Department
1520
South 4th Street
Greenville,
IL 62246
(618)
664-1442 - ext. 149