Deputy Chief Environmental Health Officer, Ms. Henrietta Alexander, is urging food handlers participating in this year’s festival activities to take advantage of the upcoming food handler sessions and become certified.

“We have scheduled two food handlers sessions on the same day to give persons the final opportunity to have their food handlers certified before the festival begins,” the Deputy Chief said.

Ms. Alexander said the division has been offering continuous training over the years so that persons have multiple opportunities to be trained .  “We are doubling up on July 18 as a last effort to ensure participants have access to the certification required for food selling operations,” she said.

 “We also want to remind persons to renew their food handler’s card at least a month in advance of expiration,” the Deputy Chief Environmental Health Officer said. She added, “Persons renewing their food handler’s certificates are required to present their expired certificates, work permit and/or picture identification.”

The food handlers’ sessions will take place virtually via the WebEx platform on Tuesday, July 18 at 9:00 a.m. and at 5:00 p.m.  Food handlers interested in attending the virtual training are asked to register individually utilising their personal email before 12:00 noon on July 17 using the following links:

For the 9:00 a.m. session, register using the link below:

https://bvigov.webex.com/weblink/register/r46b7a51ed4ae4a85cbd28b7d6931c618

For the 5:00 p.m. session, register using the link below:

https://bvigov.webex.com/weblink/register/r2eaddc28eef1784eb81e03891ed5cbf2

The Environmental Health Division is committed to ensuring that all aspects of the environment with the potential to negatively impact health are managed efficiently to enable all persons in the BVI to attain and maintain optimal health.