Government Awards Food Hygiene & Safety
Government awarded the 2010 Mayers Award for Food Hygiene & Safety to number of establishments including Harry’s, Paget Ice Queen and Double Dip Express.
Harry’s restaurant is the overall winner of the Mayers Award for Food Hygiene & Safety for 2010. In presenting the award on July 1st to Manager of Harry’s, Jordan Monkman, Minister of Health Walter Roban also congratulated the restaurant’s Executive Chef, Bradley Clease and Head Waiter, Choy Sofyen. In a lunch-time ceremony at Camden, Harry’s also won the Best Restaurant category. Paget Ice Queen won the Refreshment Shop category; Meals on Wheels earned High Commendation and Double Dip Express won the Manufacturer category.
Photo to the left shows: Minister Roban; Chief Medical Officer, Dr. John Cann; Acting Permanent Secretary Health, Randy Rochester and Environmental Health Inspectors with 2010 Mayers Award winners: (front row, l – r): Tannika Rodrigues, administrator at Meals on Wheels and Doris Brooks of Double Dip Express. (second row, l – r): Jordan Monkman of Harry’s and Lee White of Paget Ice Queen.
The Minister’s Remarks follow:
“It doesn’t matter where you live, where you travel, what kinds of foods you enjoy – the issue of food safety is an important one. Here in Bermuda, the Ministry of Health is responsible for ensuring and promoting food safety for everyone.
One of the ways that we do this is that our Environmental Health officers inspect food establishments on a regular basis to ensure that they are in compliance with best practices. When you eat out in a restaurant, when you buy your food from a supermarket, a lunch wagon, a small mom & pop operation, at County Games or at Cup Match, we ensure that each establishment maintains its facilities in tip-top condition in accordance with our acceptable standards of hygiene. This applies to both the preparation of food and the serving of foods that we consume because, let’s face it, none of us want to et sick from eating something that should not have been consumed because it was either past it’s sell-by date, prepared in an unhygienic manner, or has just plain gone off!
I like to think that the Ministry of Health and the 800 food establishments across Bermuda actually work in partnership to ensure they maintain acceptable standards with their:
* Equipment and facilities;
* Food protection and temperature control;
* Hygiene practices by food workers;
* Pest control;
* Record keeping and safe systems of work;
* Occupational safety and customer safety; and,
* Food Handler Training.
And each year those establishments who have demonstrated the highest standards are singled out for recognition with the Mayers Award for Food Hygiene and Safety. For those who may not be aware, the Mayers Award is named after past Chief Environmental Health Officer, Patrick Mayers, who continued to raise the standards of food premises locally
All establishments in Bermuda that sell food to the public are inspected and licensed by the Environmental Health Section of the Department of Health. No premise is perfect, but many do strive for perfection. Let me just say that the Department of Health does recognize the outstanding effort by many local establishments in attaining exemplary standards during the past year – even during this present economic climate.
I especially applaud those businesses that maintain staff development, equipment and cleanliness and resist the temptation to cut corners in such challenging times. Their continued investment and efforts reflect the successful balance of the need to profit with the need to provide the public with excellence in food safety standards.”
