SALINAS SCENE: Classic Salads teams up with Jaycees & Friends for cancer fight
SALINAS SCENE: Classic Salads teams up with Jaycees & Friends for cancer fight
Salinas, CA-based Classic Salads LLC teamed up with the Salinas Jaycees & Friends for the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life, which was held June 17-18.
Classic Salads and Salinas Jaycees & Friends together made a sizable donation to the Salinas Relay for Life. Classic's donation helped with relay costs, such as apparel and booth supplies.
All proceeds from the Salinas Jaycees will be donated to The American Cancer Society's Salinas Relay for Life.
The American Cancer Society Relay for Life is an overnight team event that raises awareness of cancer in the community and raises funds to fight cancer. Throughout Relay for Life, teams of friends, families and co-workers commit to keeping at least one member walking the track.
Classic Salads, established in 2000, is one of the many divisions of Classic Farms, owned and operated by principal Lance Batistich. In the past five years of operation, Classic Salads has shown substantial growth and is an innovator in spring mix and spinach.
Restaurants can aim for Gold Seal approval
In mid-April, the Environmental Health Division of the Monterey County Health Department announced that it was starting a voluntary program to issue certificates that vouch for an eatery's cleanliness.
Food establishments would have to ask to participate in the program if they want to receive the "Gold Seal," and to earn it, restaurants and other businesses that prepare food must have fewer than 10 non-critical violations when inspected.
As of June 15, 95 percent of the eateries on the Monterey Peninsula had received the Gold Seal, said John Ramirez, assistant director of environmental health for the Monterey County Health Department. The other 5 percent either failed to earn the designation or had not yet been inspected for Gold Seal approval. The week of June 15, the health department was in the process of inspecting eateries in Salinas and North County, and was 65-70 percent completed with its task, Mr. Ramirez said.
The health department already has awarded a few thousand Gold Seals since the program launched in April, and no establishment had rejected the offer for Gold Seal approval, Mr. Ramirez said. The health department's goal is to complete the task and add a Gold Seal link to its web site by July 1. Within a few months of the web site's readiness, the health department hopes to post on it the names of all establishments in the county that have earned the Gold Seal, Mr. Ramirez said.
The seal indicates when a restaurant or food retail outlet -- a non-mobile establishment such as a convenience store -- was last inspected, and signals to diners that the business was in compliance with state food-safety rules and exceeded the minimum standards for food safety.
Mr. Ramirez said that eateries can fall short of Gold Seal approval and still be granted a health permit to operate.
In evaluating restaurants, the health department looks for two types of violations: critical and non-critical. Critical violations are those that promote foodborne diseases and include no hot water available, food stored at improper temperatures and cross-contamination, such as meat blood spilling onto other foods. A single one of these violations is enough to close a retail food business.
There is no limit to the number of non-critical violations an establishment can amass. This category encompasses minor infractions that do not affect food safety, such as storing ingredients on the floor instead of six inches above the ground to allow for mopping.
There is no charge for an eatery to participate; the program is paid for by the annual fees restaurants already pay. Restaurants are inspected twice a year, and the program will not increase the number of visits. The Gold Seal plan is fashioned after similar programs in Orange and San Mateo counties. In designing the local version, the Monterey County Health Department collaborated with the Food Safety Advisory Council and the California Restaurant Association in Monterey County.
Classic Salads and Salinas Jaycees & Friends together made a sizable donation to the Salinas Relay for Life. Classic's donation helped with relay costs, such as apparel and booth supplies.
All proceeds from the Salinas Jaycees will be donated to The American Cancer Society's Salinas Relay for Life.
The American Cancer Society Relay for Life is an overnight team event that raises awareness of cancer in the community and raises funds to fight cancer. Throughout Relay for Life, teams of friends, families and co-workers commit to keeping at least one member walking the track.
Classic Salads, established in 2000, is one of the many divisions of Classic Farms, owned and operated by principal Lance Batistich. In the past five years of operation, Classic Salads has shown substantial growth and is an innovator in spring mix and spinach.
Restaurants can aim for Gold Seal approval
In mid-April, the Environmental Health Division of the Monterey County Health Department announced that it was starting a voluntary program to issue certificates that vouch for an eatery's cleanliness.
Food establishments would have to ask to participate in the program if they want to receive the "Gold Seal," and to earn it, restaurants and other businesses that prepare food must have fewer than 10 non-critical violations when inspected.
As of June 15, 95 percent of the eateries on the Monterey Peninsula had received the Gold Seal, said John Ramirez, assistant director of environmental health for the Monterey County Health Department. The other 5 percent either failed to earn the designation or had not yet been inspected for Gold Seal approval. The week of June 15, the health department was in the process of inspecting eateries in Salinas and North County, and was 65-70 percent completed with its task, Mr. Ramirez said.
The health department already has awarded a few thousand Gold Seals since the program launched in April, and no establishment had rejected the offer for Gold Seal approval, Mr. Ramirez said. The health department's goal is to complete the task and add a Gold Seal link to its web site by July 1. Within a few months of the web site's readiness, the health department hopes to post on it the names of all establishments in the county that have earned the Gold Seal, Mr. Ramirez said.
The seal indicates when a restaurant or food retail outlet -- a non-mobile establishment such as a convenience store -- was last inspected, and signals to diners that the business was in compliance with state food-safety rules and exceeded the minimum standards for food safety.
Mr. Ramirez said that eateries can fall short of Gold Seal approval and still be granted a health permit to operate.
In evaluating restaurants, the health department looks for two types of violations: critical and non-critical. Critical violations are those that promote foodborne diseases and include no hot water available, food stored at improper temperatures and cross-contamination, such as meat blood spilling onto other foods. A single one of these violations is enough to close a retail food business.
There is no limit to the number of non-critical violations an establishment can amass. This category encompasses minor infractions that do not affect food safety, such as storing ingredients on the floor instead of six inches above the ground to allow for mopping.
There is no charge for an eatery to participate; the program is paid for by the annual fees restaurants already pay. Restaurants are inspected twice a year, and the program will not increase the number of visits. The Gold Seal plan is fashioned after similar programs in Orange and San Mateo counties. In designing the local version, the Monterey County Health Department collaborated with the Food Safety Advisory Council and the California Restaurant Association in Monterey County.
