Services for food handlers
What are Food handlers?
Food handlers is a section of Services of Contagious Diseases of the Department of Health Aruba. We take care of testing all persons who work with food or drinks.
Who are we testing?
Every year a person who works with food or drinks has to present him/herself at our office and we arrange for this person to take a test. We check for diseases (via feces) and tuberculosis.
Test results determine if this person can continue working with food or drinks because he/she is free from:
• Salmonella, Shigella, Campylobacter.
• Tuberculosis.
YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR HEALTH AND OF YOUR CLIENT
What are these diseases?
Salmonella, Shigella and Campylobacter are transmitted by eating food that is contaminated by bacteria.
One example is when an infected person after a toilet visit does not wash his/her hands properly and on his/her turn works with food or gets a drink for another person. Tuberculosis is being transmitted by coughing. This happens only the moment an person infected by the Tuberculosis bacteria is sick and has mucus in his longs.
Symptoms of the disease:
Salmonella, Shigella and Campylobacter
- Diarrhea
- Vomit
- Pain or being unwell in the stomach
Tuberculosis
- Coughing up mucus or blood in mucus
- Sweating at night
- Losing weight for no apparent reason.
It's important to be free from these diseases in order to serve food and drinks to another person.
As a food handler it is easy to transmit any of these diseases to a client.
If one of these tests turn out bad, this person may NOT WORK. This person has to either attend his doctor or specialist for treatment.
Our nurses of Services of Contagious Diseases have to attend to the person's family or those who have had direct contact with the person in question.
The person needs treatment from the doctor or specialist. After treatment has been done, the tests have to be repeated. If this time
the tests turn out good, the person will obtain his/her Health Certificate. Only in this way the person can continue to work.
Personal Hygiene and frequently washing your hands is very important.
What do you need for your Health Certificate?
- Two recent photos
- Valid identification, ID-card (cedula), driver's license or passport. For those who are not native to Aruba: Valid Work Permit.
Costs:
- AWG 40,-- for the lab test
- AWG 30,-- for postage stamps
- AWG 53,-- for the thorax photo
- AWG 2,-- for badge
(Please bring receipts to the office of Services of Contagious Diseases of the Department of Health Aruba).