Area restaurants object to proposed food safety rule

Owners and managers of Cape Girardeau County restaurants packed the county commission chambers Thursday, raising objections to new training requirements for workers and other provisions in a proposed county food code.

None of the restaurant representatives questioned the need for training workers to handle food safely. Instead, they questioned why in-house training wasn't adequate to meet the proposed standards written by the Cape Gir?ardeau County Health Department. Forcing food workers to take a two-hour training course, at a cost of $10 each, will discourage potential employees and impose burdens on the business, industry representatives said.

Defending the ordinance, health department director Charlotte Craig said the proposed ordinance was similar to the rules in place in 43 of Missouri's 114 counties, where every worker who handles food must have a certificate proving completion of the training course.

Commissioners took no action on the proposal. To work out a solution, commissioners said they will form a committee with representatives of the restaurants and the health department to meet on issues raised at the meeting.

"The commission feels it is important to have a food ordinance in place, so we will not rush into it," Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones said. "We would like to have a consensus, if possible, without a lynching of the commission in public view."

The public hearing drew more than 40 people. Jones said it was the biggest crowd to come before the commission since discussions of county planning and zoning several years ago.

Amy Morris, the environmental public health specialist who worked extensively on the proposal, said surveys show Cape Girardeau County restaurants serve 2 million meals a year. The ordinance, she told commissioners, incorporates the best known practices for protecting the health and safety of consumers.

The proposal gives the health department power to enforce the state food code. Currently, if the department finds critical violations that should force a restaurant to close, the case is referred to the state Department of Health and Senior Services for action.

Other provisions include:

• Annual restaurant operating permits and new fees that would range from $60 for a temporary food stand to $270 for a grocery store with a deli, bakery, meat department, produce and seafood. Most restaurants serving food prepared from raw ingredients would pay $165 a year. Not-for-profit operations, including schools, hospitals, nursing homes and senior centers, would be exempt from the fee.
• Food safety training and certification for employees. The training would cost $10, and the certificate issued would be good for three years.
• More extensive training for managers, based on the National Restaurant Association's ServSafe standards.

The proposed fees are based on the costs of monitoring restaurants, Craig said. The fees would raise $40,000 annually for the department's $2 million budget.

The training requirements would disrupt hiring at the three McDonald's restaurants in Cape Girardeau County, said Shannon Davis, owner of McDonald's of Southeast Missouri. The restaurants employ about 180 people and deal with an annual turnover rate of 150 percent, he said. That means restaurant managers would be required to keep track of the food safety certification of about 450 employees each year.

Each new employee receives far more than two hours of McDonald's-mandated food safety training, Davis said. If the health department reviewed the material, "they will find that we meet, if not exceed, their criteria," he said.

The permit fee isn't a financial burden, Davis said, but he doesn't see any benefit. "We are not going to get inspected more diligently," Davis said. "It is a stealth tax."

To counter arguments that in-house training is as effective, if not more effective, than the department-mandated course, Joe Hainline of the Jefferson County Health Department provided figures that showed many employees spend fewer than 10 minutes on computer-based self-guided courses.

After reviewing the data from restaurants, Hainline said, Jefferson County stopped allowing the restaurant-based training two months ago.

Hainline consulted the Cape Girardeau County Health Department on drafting the ordinance.

"Most of the specific training is geared toward specific products" sold in the restaurants, he said, not general food safety.

Several restaurant representatives raised the issue of who would be responsible for paying for the training and making sure prospective or current employees take the course. Dan Drury of Mid-America Hotels, told that the health department intends for people seeking jobs to come in for training, replied: "Excuse me. What planet do you live on?"

Drury said he expects employees to demand they be paid for their time and for the employers to pay the cost. And in-house training, if accepted, won't exempt employees from paying the $10 fee for the food certificate, health department representatives said.

"I have a major issue with you having me pay $10 per employee to do our own training," Drury said.

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126