Q: What's a typical workday like for you?
A: I do routine restaurant inspections mostly, but I also inspect school kitchens, public swimming pools, lodgings, mobile home parks and campgrounds. I cover Eagan, Lilydale, Mendota Heights and Mendota, and coordinate all the inspections at the Minnesota State Fair. I make sure all establishments are licensed and I respond to public complaints. I do some public education and outbreak investigations. I look for general public health issues, such as cleanliness, correct food handling, cooking to and maintaining correct food temperature, and employee health. We don't ever want ill people working in a restaurant.
Q: How does your role fit into the bigger health care picture?
A: I talk to every food service operator about what they can do better and how they can protect the public health. Our food-borne illness in Minnesota is called Norovirus, or what Minnesotans call stomach flu. It's very easy to transfer by improper food handling and hard to get rid of. Others are salmonella, E. coli and hepatitis.
Q: Who do you interact with during the course of the day?
A: I interact with restaurant owners and operators, food service employees, and my co-workers.
Q: Why did you become a sanitarian?
A: I was in the food service business for 20 years and I was always interested in this and wanted a change of career. I had a food service administration degree so I could land a job in this field.
Q: What do you like about your work?
A: Every day is a little bit different. I have freedom to manage my own territory; I can manage my day. And I enjoy interacting with the public.
