FRANKFORT, Ky. (August 24, 2004) The smells of corn dogs, cotton candy, steak and pork chop sandwiches fill the air in Louisville each August, but making sure food at the Kentucky State Fair is safe to eat is a big job.

The Food and Milk Safety inspectors are working hard this month to check on the food vendors and dairy producers who operate during the State Fair. The inspectors from the Department for Public Health within the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, the Louisville Metro Health Department and other local health department staff have teamed up to use thermometers, test kits, flashlights and a keen eye to help ensure the safety of the hundreds of thousands of pounds of food and milk stored, prepared and consumed during the fair.

"There are close to 700,000 citizens who attend this crown jewel of state fairs in Louisville in August, and we want to make as sure as we can that each one has a wonderful, safe, healthy trip and safe return home," said Guy Delius, assistant director with the Cabinet’s Division of Public Health Protection and Safety. "Our food safety staff inspects each of the approximately 200 food vendors on the fair grounds each day for a number of food safety issues. Our milk safety inspectors are up early and stay late to inspect, sample and test the milk from the many dairy cattle showcased at the state fair. We are very thankful that the food vendors attend a food safety-training course before they may operate at the fair, and the vast majority of the operations do a wonderful job adhering to our food safety guidelines."

Anita Travis, Manager of the Cabinet’s Food Safety Branch said inspectors check food cooking and holding temperatures, employee hygiene and hand washing, cleanliness of the food production unit, refrigeration, dish washing, insect prevention methods, and many other items which play a role in the safety of the food.

"The food and milk safety inspection staff have an office on the midway, and in the dairy production arena for any questions or any concerns which may arise," she said.

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