Four Camp Verde food-service facilities were repeat winners of the annual Golden Plate award from Yavapai County Community Health Services.
The award honors a strong commitment to food safety.
Overall, there were 11 Golden Plate winners in the town, and one in Rimrock/Lake Montezuma.
The list of winners will be announced officially at award ceremonies at the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors meeting in Cottonwood on March 17, according to David McAtee, a spokesman for the county health department.
Individual winners were notified by phone by the Food Safety Council.
The repeat winners in Camp Verde were the Starbucks in Bashas’, which won for the seventh straight year; McDonald’s won for the third straight year; while Babe’s Round-Up and Camp Verde Elementary School each won for the second consecutive year.
First-time winners were Gabriela’s Taco Shop, Jungle Hut, Rainbow Acres, Rays of Sunshine, Sedona Sky Academy in Rimrock, Starbuck’s, Subway Food Court and Wendy’s.
Throughout the county, 203 food facilities were awarded Golden Plates, including 60 in the Sedona and Verde Valley area. Leading the way was Cottonwood, with 28 awards, Sedona with eight, Cornville four and Clarkdale two.
Last year, 173 facilities countywide won the award, 49 of which were local.
There are approximately 1,240 establishments licensed in Yavapai, according to the YCCHS website. In addition to restaurants, those include everything from food trucks to schools to coffee shops and senior living facilities.
The Golden Plate Award was established in 2004 as a joint effort of YCCHS, the Yavapai County Food Safety Industry Council, and the University of Arizona’s Cooperative Extension Office.
Together they developed three criteria for award recipients:
- Operate the entire calendar year without a cited critical violation on an inspection.
- Safeguard their customers by implementing a YCCHS-approved food safety plan.
- Have a person-in-charge with an accepted and current manager-level food safety certificate.
“This respected award recognizes food establishments for operating practices that demonstrate an exceptionally strong commitment to food safety,” according to a UofA newsletter.
A person who wishes to serve food to the public is required by law to first obtain a license from YCCHS. Those licenses are issued following a review of facility plans and menu and assuring, by inspection, compliance with food safety standards and practices, according to the agency’s website.
Health inspectors have unannounced inspections at least twice a year to assess the operator’s success in assuring that routine practices are conducted in a safe and sanitary manner.
The frequency depends on the complexity of the menu, how much food is made from raw products, and how much is made in advance rather than cooked-to-order.
If a food establishment is cited for critical violations, it may be corrected on the spot or require follow-up visits to make sure that they correct the problem.
Inspectors conduct routine and follow-up inspections, as well as when they receive concerns from the public on food establishments, according to the website, which notes that food establishments are regulated under the 2009 FDA Food Code, Arizona Administrative Code and Yavapai County Health Code.
“In our experience, it is unrealistic to expect that a complex, full-service food operation can routinely avoid any violations,” the YCCHS website states, adding that “any inspection report is a ‘snapshot’ of the day and time of the inspection. An inspection conducted on any given day may not be representative of the overall, long-term cleanliness of an establishment.”
“Managers and food handlers at area restaurants, schools and other food establishments routinely take steps to serve good food and at the same time, comply with health code standards. This award honors those that go above and beyond the food code requirements,” the newsletter stated.
“Even though many restaurants do not earn the Golden Plate Award, they are passing their inspections.”
Reports from restaurant inspections can be found on the Yavapai County Health Department’s website.
Golden Plate Awards
The Yavapai County Community Health Services honored 60 Sedona and Verde Valley eateries with its 2015 Golden Plate Award, which recognizes a strong commitment to food safety. The following are the local businesses that won. Parenthesis after an establishment’s name contain the number of consecutive years it has won the award.
Camp Verde
- Babe’s Round-Up [Two years]
- Camp Verde Elementary School [Two years]
- Gabriela’s Taco Shop
- Jungle Hut
- McDonald’s [Three years]
- Rainbow Acres
- Rays of Sunshine
- Starbuck’s [Bashas’] [Seven years]
- Starbuck’s
- Subway Food Court
- Wendy’s
Rimrock/Lake Montezuma
- Sedona Sky Academy
