Fraser Health and Sweet Thea baking
November 18, 2009This month Sweet Thea baking will be available to the public for the first time – at Christmas in Cloverdale this weekend, and at the Christmas Craft Fair in Abbotsford next weekend. You will have a chance to sample and buy her traditional European Christmas baking – lebkuchen, stollen, fruit cake, and shortbread (some chocolate-dipped!)
You will notice that we (and other vendors) often have a letter, and a small sign, visible at our booth. The sign states ‘This Food Has Been Prepared in a Kitchen that is Not Inspected By a Regulatory Authority’, and it is one of the conditions of approval by the Health authorities for us to sell at Cloverdale, Abbotsford, or any other temporary food market.
We often take Environmental Health Services for granted; this process gave me a small glimpse into the jobs that Health Inspectors and support staff do for us, constantly vigilant to protect the public from illnesses and toxins in our food supply.
Fraser Health is the name of the organization that, among many other things, monitors and polices food safety in our province, and so we had to go to them to get a Letter of Approval before selling Sweet Thea’s baking to the public. Fraser Health supervises all the temporary food markets, and breaks food into two categories; the first is Higher Risk Food, which is food in a ‘form or state which is capable of supporting growth of disease causing microorganisms, or the production of toxins’. Examples of foods falling in this category would be antipasto, meat pies, cakes with whipped crea mor cheese filling, pesto, pies, or chili. The second category is Lower Risk Food, which, of course, means food that is in a ‘form or state which is NOT capable of supporting growth of disease causing microorganisms, or the production of toxins’.
Only Lower Risk Foods should be sold at temporary food markets, and do not inspect facilities to issue a permit for Lower Risk Food – thus the sign we will be displaying. Fraser Health however does do a detailed analysis of our ingredients, preparation and processes, our methods of preparing and distributing samples, before giving their approval. After their very meticulous vetting process, they issued our Letter of Approval, which will be at our booth in the next few weeks, at Christmas in Cloverdale and the Abbotsford Christmas Craft Fair.
So, next time you eat anything, remember that most often somewhere, somehow along the line, a Health Inspector has closely studied the process that has brought the food to you, to protect your health, and your family’s health.
Props to Fraser Health – see you at the Christmas fairs!
