Plan to test those applying for eating licenses proceeds

Source: The Grand Rapids Press
Ottawa County commissioners this spring will get a second look at a proposed ordinance to test all new restaurateurs on sanitation and food safety.

Commissioners first reviewed the proposal in December, but raised several questions and sent it back for review by the county’s health and human services committee.

Fred Vander Laan, a county commissioner and member of the committee, said members appeared satisfied Thursday that the foodservice testing has merit.

“I thought it was a no-brainer,” Vander Laan said of the idea.

The concerns raised by county commissioners in December involved worries about overregulating the foodservice industry and applying the rules to vendors and non-profit groups that hold food sale fund-raisers.

The proposal would require all those who apply for a new foodservice license to take a three hour course and a short test before they are issued a license.

Ottawa County Supervising Sanitarian Jim Szejda, who chairs a group called the Ottawa County Food Service Advisory Board, said the ordinance is not intended for vendors and occasional food preparers, such as the Lions Club.

But he plans to ask the advisory board for clarification on the issue next week.

Meanwhile, Commissioner Joe Haveman of Holland said he still has reservations about the testing plan, but not as many as in December. Haveman also sits on the health and human services committee.

Haveman said the proposal seemed slightly more reasonable after learning Thursday that the Ottawa County Health Department has offered the course and test as a volunteer option for several years. He also like the idea of publishing the proposal in the Platter Chatter, a newsletter distributed to local restaurateurs, before it goes to the county board.

A handful of Michigan counties, including Washtenaw near Detroit, already have some form of testing.

Another concern raised by some commissioners in December stemmed from the Food Service Advisory Board’s lack of a quorum when it endorsed the ordinance last fall.

Szejda said he intends to try to get all 14 advisory board members to attend next week’s meeting to take a revote of the issue.
Source: Grand Rapids Press