Jefferson County Health Department
Protecting Public Health
Location:
1948 Whiltshire Road
Suite 1
Kearnesyville, WV
25430
Contact number:
304-728-8417
Do you need a permit application?
Sanitarians:
Kacie Noonan
Judith Rice
Do you need more information outside of the health depart
ment? Click below:
What is food safety?
Food Safety is ensuring that cold foods are kept cold and warm foods are kept warm, in specific temperature ranges. It also concerns personal hygiene and food preparation area cleanliness. Our mission in the food department is to ensure food is handled safely for all populations served by inspecting food facilities, whether temporary or permanent, and educate food handlers.
To learn about proper food temperatures, cooking, cooling and handling methods, sign up for a free food class. TB tests also need to be done before obtaining your annual food card. Managers must attend a Serv Safe food class for a fee. To schedule a food handlers class
Have you ever had a foodborne illness?
If you ever felt ill after eating somewhere or your whole family became ill after a dinner outing, it could be from a foodborne illness. If you eat out quite a bit, it may be difficult to find out where you came into contact with adulterated food. You can even become ill from eating food at home not properly handled. One of the most important aspects to safe food handling is personal hygiene and washing your hands. Don't forget to turn off the warm water with a paper towel rather than your clean hands.
Our office inspects schools, hotels, nursing home kitchens, restaurants, temporary establishments, as well as other facilities to inspect their food handling practices and educate the food handlers on maintaining a safe food environment. Since our inspections are public record, and we have a large response to seeing the inspections, our office will list the establishments we inspect and critical issues were evident of the facility. We appreciate your patience as we will update the website for facility inspections. Click Here For Inspections with Criticals
Each type of establishment has forms to fill out. Click on the package below for your type of establishment or service.
Chinese Food Class 7/7/08 at 9.a.m., Spanish Food Class on 7/8/08 at 9 a.m.
July 3, 2008 PRESS RELEASE
CHANGES IN FOOD CODE
The Jefferson County Health Department announces that this month the state law regulating food safety will change. This spring state legislators adopted the 2005 Food Code, and undate from the current 1999 Food Code.
Starting July 1, restaurants and other places with food permits must start following the new rules.
The State Food Code follows guidelines set out by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Teh food code is changed every four years on the national level. The 2005 Food Code is the most recent full version of the FDA code.
The state last changed its food code eight years agou, those updates were more complex because the entire inspection process changed.
Violations are noted during health department inspections in two categories; critical and non-critical violations. Critical violations are infringements that can spread food borne illnesses like chicken salad that is not being kept cold enough or employees not washing their hands. A dirty floor is a non-critical violation.
Under current rules, an establishment can have five uncorrectable critical violations before it is shut down. Under the new food code inspectors can close eateries with three critical violations. This is significant because the Jefferson County Health Department sees a lot of places with three or four violations.
An establishment can be closed if a single violation poses a serious eminent hazard to the safety of food, employees or customers such as backed up sewage in the establishment, no hot water/ or no water available for the operations, lack of adequate refrigeration to maintain proper cold temperatures of potentially hazardous food, or a serious pest infestation. The Health Department will be distributing guidelines to restaurants to inform managers of new regulations. The 2005 FDA Food Code can be accessed on the web at www.fda.gov.
One change will give restaurants a little leeway on food storage temperatures. The 1999 food code rules specify that hot foods must be kept at a minimum of 140. Under the new regulations, hot food can be kept at 135 degrees.
Another change is that eateries will have to post consumer advisories in menus or on signs that eating raw or undercooked meats, poultry, seafood or eggs increases their risk of foodborne illness.
With a growing prevalence of allergies to ingredients such as nuts and mile, the new code means people in charge will have to know more about food allergies.
The regulations also include more details on how to protect the public if a food worker is sick based on new research on pathogens.