The SIU-affiliated Paul Hall Center for Maritime Training and Education (PHC) recently received accolades from the St. Mary’s County, Maryland, Health Department.
School personnel were on hand April 3 for a local ceremony honoring the PHC and other recipients of the county’s Gold Star Awards. Those honors are given annually “to food service facilities that achieve superior food safety standards,” according to the county.
PHC Executive Chef John Hetmanski, who attended the ceremony in Leonardtown, stated, “It’s always a team effort with the upgraders, trainees and crew (staff), coordinating a daily sanitation checklist along with observations that are addressed immediately.”
He added that the school, located in Piney Point, sees no shortage of meals or diners.
“The level of activity that we have here is amazing,” Hetmanski noted. “We do three meals a day and we have hundreds of people we feed for each meal. With the continuous rotation of upgraders and apprentices, for us to always get that job done is a tribute to the staff and students.”
The award recipients make up approximately 20% of St. Mary’s County’s licensed food service facilities.
According to the county, “The Gold Star Program has recognized food establishments for superior food safety practices since the program’s inception in 2007. Environmental health specialists at the health department regularly inspect more than 500 food service facilities in St. Mary’s County to ensure food safety is being adequately addressed. During 2022, more than 1,400 inspections were conducted.”
“These food establishments deserve recognition for achieving such high standards for their attention to food safety and sanitation,” stated Dr. Meena Brewster, St. Mary’s County health officer. “We appreciate their extra dedication to ensure our community members can not only enjoy their food, but also have confidence in its safe preparation.”
The food establishments that achieve this high level of compliance receive a certificate and a window sticker designating them as Gold Star establishments. The requirements to earn a Gold Star include: no critical violations (based on the Code of Maryland Regulations), no temperature violations cited during a monitoring inspection; all violations noted by an inspector must be corrected by a 30-day follow-up inspection, no confirmed unsafe food handling complaints, at least one food service worker completed a recognized and approved Food Service Sanitation and Safety Class within the last two years.
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