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To stay healthy throughout fair, wash your hands
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Gage Hunter, 6, of Poland, checks out a baby chick at Old McDonald’s Barn at the 2010 Canfield Fair.
CANFIELD
Frequent hand-washing is the best and easiest way to ensure polishing off those elephant ears and sausage sandwiches doesn’t spoil a safe, healthy visit to the upcoming 165th Canfield Fair.
A 20-second hand-wash, especially after using the restroom, after touching animals and before eating, is the No. 1 thing fair visitors can do to prevent foodborne illness, said Eleanor Cegan, a sanitarian with the Mahoning County District Board of Health.
Cegan and her fellow health-district sanitarians also do their part to ensure food safety by inspecting and licensing the 230 to 250 vendors that sell food and beverages to the fair’s thousands of visitors.
The fair runs Wednesday through Labor Day.
Health-department sanitarians begin their work Tuesday, inspecting and providing food- and beverage-vendors with an Ohio food-service-operation license.
Most have valid Ohio licenses, but some from other states or who only come to the Canfield Fair may not, Cegan said.
She said a crew of eight to 10 sanitarians will work the fair from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and a smaller number on the afternoon shift that ends at 8:30 p.m.
Food temperatures and drinking-quality water are critical issues.
Refrigeration to the required 41 degrees or below for food storage, especially during extreme heat or during a power failure, can be a problem. Mechanical refrigeration is required. Conversely, cooked items must be maintained at 135 degrees or higher to be sold, Cegan said.
She said food vendors generally are very cooperative. There are a lot of vendors who have come to the Canfield Fair for 20-plus years, and they know what is required and expected. They also help each other when one needs a hand to get back in business if there is an equipment failure, she said.
Fair President Jim Brown Jr. said the health department’s and the vendor’s efforts to keep everybody well during the fair are appreciated.
Most of the vendors are professionals. This is how they make their living, and they are “up to snuff” regarding food safety, Brown said.
The county health district has a cordial collaborative relationship with the fair board and fair vendors that helps keep the bar of sanitary standards high, said Matthew Stefanak, county health commissioner.