CENTER IS HOLDING FOOD HANDLING CLASSES

Proper food handling is the topic of a series of food handling classes being conducted at Cape Girardeau and Jackson over the next two weeks.

"The classes include lectures, slides and handout literature concerning basic storage, handling and preparations of foods to prevent salmonella," said Jonell McNeely, environmental sanitarian with the Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center in Cape Girardeau.

Sessions will be held at the health center today, Tuesday and March 17. Three sessions will be held at the Riverside Regional Library at Jackson on Thursday.

"We want to give all food service personnel an opportunity to attend this important training course," said McNeely. "We have scheduled a total of 14 sessions, and are urging people to attend at least one of the sessions."

More than 500 salmonella outbreaks occur in the U.S. each year, resulting in as many as two million individual cases, said McNeely.

"These outbreaks are preventable," said McNeely. "Proper food handling can prevent these occurrences ."

Additional information is available by calling McNeely at 335-7846.