Category: Announcements || By Submitted Report

The Allegheny County Health Department will offer food safety courses in West Mifflin and in three other locations this summer.

The course teaches the importance of food safety along with techniques designed to prevent food contamination and outbreaks of food poisoning. The Health Department requires facilities that prepare foods to have at least one certified worker on site during operating hours.

The two-day course will be offered Sept. 13 and 20 at Mifflin Social Club. Other sessions are slated for June 10 and 17 at Charles Morris Nursing Home in Squirrel Hill; July 22 and 29, Linton Middle School in Penn Hills; and August 19 and 26, Syria Shriners Center, Harmar Twp.

The fee is $60 for anyone who lives in Allegheny County or works at a food facility in the County and $75 for others. A three-year certification is awarded to those who complete the course and pass the exam.

A one-day refresher class for workers whose certification has expired will be offered on July 2 at Fox Chapel High School and September 26 at the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium. The fee for the recertification course, including the exam, is $55 for people living or working in the county and $70 for others.

A certification challenge exam, with no instructions, will be given from 2 to 3 p.m. on June 19, July 10 and 24, August 7 and 21, and September 11 and 25 at the Health Department's Food Safety Division in the Lawrenceville section of PIttsburgh. The one-hour exam, which is for those who already have had food safety training, is $40 for those who live or work in the county and $55 for others.

Discounted culinary student fees of $40 for county residents and $55 for non-residents are available for the certification course and refresher class.

For more information, call the Allegheny County Health Department at (412) 687-ACHD or visit the department's web site.