Public Health inspects base commissary

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Dillon Davis
  • 97th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
ALTUS AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --   The 97th Medical Group public health office conducted a public health inspection inside the base commissary April 9, 2014.

The inspection helps ensure the safety of Airmen, veterans and family members by properly storing perishable groceries and checking for health hazards.

"We inspect 22 facilities here at Altus Air Force Base," said U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Sierra Halstead, 97th Medical Operations Squadron public health technician. "The purpose is to prevent food-bourne illnesses within the Air Force community and to ensure the sanitation levels of the facilities are up to code."

The public health office is responsible for inspecting all the food service facilities on base on a monthly basis to ensure safety compliance.

"The most important part of our inspections is ensuring employees are educated on the standards of the Food and Drug Administration food code," said Halstead. "We can check temperatures all day, but if the employees are not trained properly then it would be impossible for each facility to run safely. We do this by providing food handler training to employees."

During the inspection, food preparation, storage, handling and cleanliness standards are checked and observed to ensure FDA safety compliance.

"Facility inspections are important to the mission because we ensure that our Airmen are not being exposed to harmful food or unsanitary conditions," said Halstead. "If we were to experience an illness outbreak due to hazardous food or sanitation the mission would suffer greatly because our members would not be well enough to perform their everyday duties."

Inspections, such as these, allow customers to enjoy a more worry-free shopping experience and allow base members to remain focused on the mission and their families.