RESTAURATEURS GET CERTIFICATION TRAINING AS DEADLINE NEARS.

Byline: Melissa Schmitt Daily News Staff Writer

Los Angeles County restaurants have until Jan. 16 to obtain certified food handling status for employees or face immediate shutdown by the health department, according to the county officials.

The new law is an attempt to curb an increasing number of cases of food-borne illnesses resistant to today's antibiotics, according to Frank Gomez of the L.A. County Health Department.

The state of California is expected to follow suit in 2000, implementing food-handling training standards throughout the state. Those standards would even apply to San Diego, forcing the county to redraw its food-handling guidelines that have been in place for 12 years, according to Joyce Wilkins, a dietitian and food-handling instructor in San Diego who is now making weekly trips to Los Angeles to certify restaurant employees as food handlers.

``It's a serious issue,'' Wilkins said recently on a break from an all-day training course for executives of The Cheesecake Factory.

While scientists struggle to come up with new antibiotics to fight new strains of bacteria resistant to today's drugs, chefs, cooks and the like are struggling to learn all they can about salmonella, staphylococcus, C. perfringens, Campylobacter j, E. coli, Shigella and hepatitis A.

As the certification deadline approaches, Los Angeles restaurant employees, such as those at The Cheesecake Factory, are scurrying to take food-handling courses and pass a county-approved test and become registered as certified food handlers.

The courses and testing cost between $100 and $120.

On a recent afternoon in an upstairs meeting room of The Cheesecake Factory's Calabasas headquarters, the chain's managers and kitchen managers listened intently to the ways food-borne illnesses are passed.

To a captivated crowd, Wilkins told of slaughtered chickens lying in a vat of bloody water awaiting processing.

``Do you know how much salmonella is in that water?'', she asked, explaining the importance of cooking chicken thoroughly, washing cutting boards and knives after every use, while also warning not to rinse chicken under water.

``It only spreads the bacteria,'' she said.

In fact, it isn't just chicken that poses a health threat, according to Wilkins. ``Any food high in protein is likely to be a candidate for quickly growing bacteria.''

That includes the usual meat, eggs and fish. But it also includes refried beans and alfalfa sprouts.

Thawing food on the counter or in the sink is extremely dangerous, according to Wilkins; so is not controlling temperatures and not washing hands frequently enough.

``People don't wash their hands often and well enough,'' Wilkins said. ``Hands are the most common cause of transporting food-borne illness. If you don't wash your hands before you eat, you just ate everything on your hands.''

Restaurateurs across the county are finding they didn't know all that they thought they did about food-borne illnesses.

``It seems like nothing is safe,'' said Linda Canditory, executive vice president of The Cheesecake Factory.

The chain's executive chefs asked loads of questions and competed in pop quizzes on how to best address safety issues.

Canditory applauds the new program, even though it will cost the company thousands of dollars to get its highest executives, chefs and kitchen managers certified.

``It's really amazing what's out there,'' she said.

But while the measure is being applauded by lawmakers, diners and even many restaurateurs like Canditory, it is hitting some small-business owners hard - those who don't have the capital to get each employee certified as they would like.

Big corporations like The Cheesecake Factory have the resources to provide mass training to their employees, while smaller businesses such as Joe Shabbouei's California Pita and Grill find it more difficult to spend thousands of dollars educating employees who don't always stay around long-term.

As the law now reads, restaurants must have a certified food handler on staff at all times of operation, according to Shabbouei.

Shabbouei got certified through AAA Food Handlers, a county-approved program. He paid $119 for the testing and classroom instruction.

He can't afford to provide his eight employees the same education, he said, which causes scheduling problems, but he would like them all to undergo the valuable training.

Instead, he teaches them what he learned.

``It's very difficult,'' Shabbouei said. ``I wish instead of us having to go there, we could purchase the book and study. Make it like a home-study course.''

And the cost extends beyond the course, he said, explaining the class is a full-day exercise.

``They (employees) have one day off, and they need to spend it with the family,'' Shabbouei said. ``It's important, but maybe they could have come up with an easier way.''

Add to the equation pay for the day off and the person who has to come in and work in place of them, he said. ``They're not gone for an hour or two. They're gone for the whole day.''

SAFETY TIPS

New strains of bacteria are appearing today that are immune to antibiotics, according to Carol Wilkins, registered dietitian and author of ``Safe at the Plate,'' a home-study guide to safe food preparation.

This makes food safety a growing problem for households as well as for those in the food-service industry, Wilkins said.

In the home, food safety concerns revolve around three main functions: food storage, food handling and cooking. The following tips are included in Wilkins' book as well as her food handling course, also titled ``Safe at the Plate.''

Keep hot foods hot - above 140 degrees.

Keep cold foods cold - below 41 degrees.

Don't let hot foods stand at room temperature before refrigerating.

When reheating leftovers, heat to 165 degrees for at least one minute.

When reheating in the microwave, stir food carefully.

Reheat leftovers only one time.

Replace dish cloths and towels daily.

Clean counters carefully. Try to always prepare food on cutting boards instead of counters.

Scrub cutting boards with soapy water and sanitize with bleach solution.

Cook ground meat to 155 degrees and poultry to 165 degrees. The color should never be pink.

Designate different cutting boards for raw foods, cooked foods and produce.

Never thaw food on the counter.

CAPTION(S):

Photo, Box

PHOTO Joyce Wilkins, far right, talks about food safety with managers from The Cheesecake Factory.

Evan Yee/Daily News

BOX: SAFETY TIPS (see text)