In This Section:
Wisconsin Looking To Get Out Of Health Inspection Biz
New Mexico Equipment Cert Deadline Looms
Illinois Gov. Signs School Breakfast Act
California Offers Energy Efficiency Loans For Schools, Hospitals
Honey-San, I Shrunk The Food Waste
This issue's Economic Report Sponsor: Atlas Metal Industries Inc. | Industry ReportSponsor: Salvajor Co.
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Wisconsin Looking To Get Out Of Health Inspection Biz
Expect changes in your inspection routine if you’re doing business in Wisconsin. Faced with serious budget shortfalls, the state is hoping to get out of the health inspection business within the next 10 years. Wisconsin’s current count of 24 state inspectors is responsible for checking public pools, tattoo parlors and campgrounds in addition to foodservice facilities.
The state’s Department of Health and Family Services is authorized to have as many as 27 sanitarians on staff to handle inspections, but even so, it could never keep up. Inspectors are now responsible for about 600 facilities each, more than double the 280 sites recommended by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Nearly half the state’s 94 local county and city health departments already act as "state agents," handling responsibility of inspections themselves. The state wants the remaining 52 localities to take on inspections, too, but hasn’t yet said how local inspectors will be trained or who will pay for it.
Restaurants themselves may end up picking up the tab, according to Susan Quam, senior director of the Wisconsin Restaurant Association’s Educational Foundation.
The WRA supports the concept of supporting local inspection programs entirely through fees. While fees might increase when inspections are shifted to local health departments, inspections will likely be more consistent and reliable under the new system.
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New Mexico Equipment Cert Deadline Looms
Attention, New Mexico operators: If you run restaurants in that state, you now have less than six months to bring equipment into compliance with N.M. Environment Department regulations.
Effective Aug. 12, equipment in all foodservice operations must meet American National Standards Institute standards. That means the equipment must be approved by an ANSI accredited program such as NSF, Underwriters Laboratories or Intertek ETL Semko. Any non-certified equipment you may have been using must be replaced by then.
Equipment covered by the regs includes any cooking, hot food holding and transport equipment, dehydrators, refrigerators and freezers, electrical and mechanical food prep equipment (mixers, slicers, grinders, pasta makers, etc.), ice machines, food and beverage dispensers, and warewashing machines.
Microwaves used exclusively for packaged foods don’t have to be ANSI-certified. All other equipment, though, must comply—unless you get a variance from the Environment Department, in which case you’ll have to prove that your equipment is as safe as ANSI-certified equivalents.
For more information, go to www.nmenv.state.nm.us/fod/Food_Program/news_4.html.
Section sponsored by APW Wyott Innovations
Illinois Gov Signs School Breakfast Act
Kitchens at many schools in Illinois will soon need to be open for breakfast, thanks to a bill recently signed by Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
The Childhood Hunger Relief Act, signed into law Feb. 15, mandates that schools with at least 40% of students on the free and reduced-price lunch program must begin serving breakfast, if they are not already doing so.
HB 756 gives school districts 90 days to determine which schools are required to offer the breakfast program. Districts can apply for federal and state incentive grants to help cover start-up costs. HB756 also requires the Illinois State Board of Education to prepare plans for summer foodservice programs.
Currently, more than 2,200 schools participate in Illinois’ school-based nutrition programs. Of those, nearly 360 schools could fall under the mandate to serve breakfasts, according to ISBE estimates.
For more details, click here: www.isbe.net/nutrition/htmls/hb_756.htm.
Section sponsored by APW Wyott Innovations
California Offers Energy Efficiency Loans For Schools, Hospitals
Four-point-five percent. That’s the loan rate you’d pay if you were with a California school or hospital seeking to upgrade to a more environmentally friendly operation.
The Energy Efficiency Financing Program, offered by the California Energy Commission, provides the 4.5% low-interest financing for public schools, public hospitals and local governments for feasibility studies and for installing energy efficient measures.
Eligible projects include energy audits; feasibility studies; lighting; motors or variable frequency drives and pumps; and heating and air conditioning modifications, to name a few.
The maximum loan amount is $1 million per application; there is no minimum loan amount. Projects must have a simple payback of 9.8 years or less based on energy cost savings.
For full details and an application, point your browser here: www.energy.ca.gov/efficiency/financing/index.html.
Honey-San, I Shrunk The Food Waste
Q: What’s shaped like a tiny Japanese washing machine and uses microwave energy to zap food waste into a lighter, more compact form?
A: You guessed it—a Japanese-made microwave disposal unit. The machines are being tested in Japan at 110 FamilyMart convenience stores. The rollout comes in part as a response to the country’s Food Recycling Law, which requires businesses to cut food waste 20% by 2006.
The microwave disposer, made by Japan Engineering Supply, processes about 10 lbs. of food waste per hour, with no unpleasant odors. The end "product" weighs 50% less than the original weight and is reduced in volume by about 25%.
FamilyMart stores operate the machines three times a day to dispose of unsold prepared food items. The Tokyo-based company is Japan’s third-largest c-store chain, with 11,000 stores in five countries.
For more information on Japanese environmental initiatives, check out Japan For Sustainability at www.japanfs.org.
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