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Food Hygiene Course In Progress

A course in Food, Hygiene and Safety Management for small restaurateurs is currently taking place at Paradise Cove Resort organized by the Anguilla Development Board. The two-week workshop that is being facilitated by Kenneth Harvey and Alorna Wilson started on Monday afternoon with a short opening ceremony. There are 42 participants.

Kenneth Harvey

Manager of the Anguilla Development Board (ADB), Althea Hodge, said that the first week will involve food hygiene, safety management and costing techniques and the second week will be food hygiene and safety and audits for food establishments. She stressed the importance and benefits for consumers and promised that the course would be challenging and beneficial.

Director of the ADB, Calvert Carty, stressed the importance of food safety for the health of the nation. He suggested that it is important to know how food is produced in order to use it properly. He said that Anguilla is an upscale destination and food preparation and hygiene must be foremost, as one mistake can cause the closure of a restaurant.

Head table: L to R Wilma Vanterpool, Kenneth Harvey, Lynrod Brooks, Calvert Carty and Althea Hodge

Health Planner, Lynrod Brooks, thanked the ADB on behalf of the Ministry of Social Development for organizing the workshop and the Caribbean Technological Consultancy Services Network and the Caribbean Development Bank for their assistance. He noted that food borne diseases represent an important public health problem and can significantly affect people’s health with social and economic consequences.

He said that Anguilla has a vibrant tourism industry and it is the largest contributing sector to the economy, representing more than 30% of GDP and employing over 20% of the labour force. “It is obvious that effective food safety programmes are crucial not only to the survival of our tourism industry, but also to the island’s food supply, as over 95% of food products are imported from international markets, with the majority coming from United States,” Brooks remarked.

He stressed that it is important to ensure that all food handlers in large or small food service and catering establishments understand the importance of safe food handling and monitoring. “I would like to reiterate that food safety success in this changing environment requires novel prevention strategies, greater harmonization and more collaboration at the national and international level than ever before. I am encouraging everyone to take advantage of this food safety initiative and I look forward to an exciting and productive workshop,” he concluded.

Kenneth Harvey, Investment Officer from the Private Sector Development Division of the Caribbean Development Bank, gave an outline of the workshop saying that he appreciates being invited by the Government and the ADB. He will be assisted by Alorna Wilson a consultant attached to the CDB.

The vote of thanks was given by Wilma Vanterpool, Small Enterprise Development Officer of ADB.

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