ABOUT US

KH Food Safety Consulting and Services LLC is the first and only food safety consulting company in Winnebago County IL. Our founder, Karen Hobbs, is a Rockford University graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree major in Biology and a minor in Chemistry. In 1997, she became a public facility inspector, and in 2004 she became the plan reviewer for the Winnebago County Health Department. Her 22-year vast experience in food safety compliance auditing includes restaurants, food trucks, schools, various private and government foodservice institutions, farmers' markets, gaming parlors, and special/temporary events. She also received training and inspected tanning salons and tattoo parlors and in 2017 began inspecting bar establishments for liquor compliance. Her expertise in plan review compliance aided her in obtaining the position of infection prevention specialist for the Swedish American Health System in 2020 where she created one of their standards of work for infection prevention rounds published on their website.

While working for the Winnebago County Health Department, she had great professional experiences as an inspector and plan reviewer. In 2000, she was one of the instructors to teach the Refresher Course as part of the IDPH manager certification program. In 2010, Rockford Register Star interviewed her and another colleague while inspecting one of the major festival events in the area. In 2013, she facilitated various Farmers' Market workshops to implement new rules and regulations. In 2015, when Business First meetings began, she was asked to represent the Health Department. Business First meetings combine the City of Rockford, Health Department, Small Business Development Center, and Four Rivers Sanitation Authority to assist individuals with their business ideas. She also participated in their Facebook promotional video. In 2019, due to Food Trucks' popularity in the area, she represented the Health Department for the Channel 23 News interview to promote plan review and licensing procedures.

Ms. Hobbs's interactions with clients, colleagues, other regulatory agency officials, and local business leaders in the past 22 years made her realize that our community needs an experienced client advocate who has done it all. Her experience gave her excellent knowledge of the health department's plan review process and licensing procedure. She also has excellent knowledge of other regulatory agencies ' expectations, such as Fire Departments, Building Departments, and local Sanitary Districts in all municipalities and villages in the County. In addition, she is very excited to assist clients outside Winnebago County since IDPH adopted the FDA Food Code in 2016 to provide uniformity throughout the state. Therefore, in October 2021, KH Food Safety Consulting and Services LLC was established. A year later, she became ServSafe certified to proctor and teach both food handler and manager food safety courses. We now offer both services every month at the Belvidere Chamber of Commerce located at 404 S State in Belvidere. Check out our ServSafe Services tabs above for details. We can also offer these services privately at your convenient locations. No minimum is required for sessions in Boone and Winnebago County. Call 815 494 1276 for details. These are just some of the excellent services we offer. Feel free to visit our Services tab and let us know how we can make a difference in your food service operations. Our company’s mission is to assist with food safety compliance with a convenient

and streamlined approach, one operator one business at a time.