LEONARDTOWN, Md. (Feb. 2, 2008)—Nine months after announcing the Gold Star Program to recognize superior compliance to food safety standards among food establishments in St. Mary’s County, the local Health Department presented Gold Star certificates to over 50 food service facilities who met the challenge of achieving the superior standards for the 2007 calendar year. William B. Icenhower, M.D., health officer, presented award certificates at separate ceremonies held at the health department in Leonardtown, and the Lexington Park and Charlotte Hall libraries during January. Commissioner Dan Raley participated in the Lexington Park event.
“The Gold Star Program recognizes the conscientious efforts of food establishments, and alerts the public to restaurants that have demonstrated exceptional attention to public health safety and sanitation,” explained Daryl Calvano, Environmental Health Division director at the health department. “We are really pleased by the leadership of these establishments who stepped up and met the standards during the inspection period. These establishments deserve to be recognized as having achieved the ‘high honor roll’ for sanitation.”
The Gold Star program has been several years in the making. Advanced computer technology in the field, adopted in 2006, enables health inspectors to record and track compliance progress with relative ease, and contributes to the ability to inform the public more quickly about those establishments that are going the extra mile to provide customers a safe dining experience, noted local health officials.
The Gold Star Program was introduced as a direct result of public interest. “Clients naturally want to know how restaurants do on their inspections,” said Alan Shick, food program supervisor. “Public inquiries about our inspection work in food services have become much more numerous in the past few years. Both the food establishment and the public win when high standards are achieved, rewarded, and made known.”
The food establishments that achieve this high level of compliance received a certificate and window sticker naming them as Gold Star establishments. The requirements to earn the Gold Star are:
-- no critical violations (based on COMAR 10.15.03);
-- 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;
-- and at least one food service worker has completed a recognized and approved “Food Service Sanitation and Safety Class” within the last two years.
2007 Gold Star Recipients: Achieving Highest Professional Standards in Safe Food Preparation
Anchor of Walden Sierra
Blue Wind Gourmet
Bruster’s Ice Cream
Cedar Lane Apartments
The Coffee Quarter
Dash-In #353
Do Dah Deli
Dr. James A. Forrest Technology Center
Garvey Senior Center
Grace Loffler Center
Immaculate Heart of Mary
J.T. Daugherty Conference Center
Kellam Seafood
Loffler Senior Center
Northern Senior Center
Panera Bread
Paul Hall Center (formerly Lundeberg School)
Personalized Touch Catering
Pizza Hut #23550
Quality Street Kitchen & Catering
Rita’s Water Ice
Ruby Tuesday #3433
Salsa’s Mexican Cafe
Seven Eleven #17706J
St. Mary’s County Public Schools:
Banneker [A] Elementary
Banneker [B] Elementary
Carver Elementary
Chesapeake Charter School
Chopticon High School
Esperanza Middle School
Food Service Warehouse
Green Holly [B] Elementary School
Greenview Knolls Elementary
Leonardtown Elementary
Leonardtown High School
Lettie Dent Elementary School
Lexington Park Elementary
Margaret Brent Middle School
Mechanicsville Elementary
Oakville Elementary School
Piney Point Elementary
Spring Ridge Middle School
White Marsh Elementary School
White Oak Secondary School
St. Mary’s Detention Center
St. Mary’s Hospital
Tea n’ Scones
Thai International Restaurant
The Tides Restaurant & Oyster Bar
Wendy’s #159
Wawa #583
Wawa #587