People, Places & Events

Food manager certification course slated for July 22-23
Special to The Monitor
KAUFMAN–Statistics indicate that foodborne illness continues to be a health issue in the United States.
Each year, one in four Americans will become sick, one in 1,000 will become hospitalized, and 5,000 will die due to a foodborne illness.
Under the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) jurisdiction each food establishment is required to have one certified food manager on site.
Many of you have already received a letter from the Texas Department of State Health Services regarding this.
Under these new rules, each food establishment permitted by the Texas Department of State Health Services must have one certified food manager. New food manager certificates will be valid for five years.
Texas AgriLife Extension Service, Kaufman County, is offering a food manager certification training course.
This program will be offered for $110, Wednesday and Thursday, July 22-23, at Texas AgriLife Extension Service.
Cost includes training, materials and the State food manager certification examination.
This program is designed to not only prepare foodservice managers to pass the certification examination, it will provide valuable education regarding the safe handling of food.
Almost 50 cents of every dollar Americans spend on food is spent on meals prepared away from home. Therefore, careful attention to food safety will help keep customers safe and satisfied.
Foodborne illnesses are estimated to cost thousands of dollars in lost wages, insurance, and medical bills.
With these statistics, knowledge of how to prevent foodborne illness is essential.
The benefits of improved food safety include:
• Increased customer satisfaction
• Improved relationships with health officials
• Prevention of bad publicity and law suits due to foodborne illness
By attending the course, foodservice managers will learn about:
• identifying potentially hazardous foods and common errors in food handling
• preventing contamination and cross-contamination of food
• teaching and encouraging personal hygiene for employees
• complying with government regulations
• maintaining clean utensils, equipment and surroundings, and
• controlling pests.
Foodborne illnesses can be prevented by following simple food safety practices.
For more information about the Food Manager Certification Training course of Texas AgriLife Extension Service, called “Food Safety: It’s Our Business,” call Katie M. Phillips, CEA-FCS at (972) 932-9069 or e-mail kmphillips@ag.tamu.edu. 

Creature Feature
A Surprise Under My Chassis
By Linda K. Holt
Monitor Staff
KEMP – It was a rainy Friday morning and I backed my car out from its unprotected spot next to the house to head for work. But I stopped short for there was a surprise walking about where my chassis had been.
Its bright brown shell was a stark contrast to the dark mud that it clambered about on.
This colorful Three-toed Box Turtle was a species I hadn’t seen before. Usually they are mud turtles that have come up from the lake to lay eggs in my sandy soil.
This one’s orange colored skin with white and black stripes, orange and white dots and high domed tan carapace made it a colorful and unique find.
After a few moments of snapping photos, it decided it was camera shy and retreated into its shell.
The hinged bottom, or plastron, effectively covers and protects it’s head, tail and feet.

Monitor Photo/Linda K. Holt
A Three-toed Box Turtle makes its way out of a tire rut.

I don’t normally handle my subjects, wishing to intrude into their lives as little as possible, but this one was the exception.
I wanted as many photos and of as many sides as possible for identification purposes.
Once I had finished my documentation, I set him back where I had found him.
It was several minutes before he felt confident enough to come back out and move off into the weeds.
I look forward to seeing him again someday!