The sun never sets in Boracay with the surge of visitors to the island beach paradise this summer.

With the safety of food and water for tourists as a major concern, the Eminent Persons Group (EPG) of Boracay with the support of the Department of Tourism (DoT) will hold the second series of the Servsafe Certification Course for hotels, resorts and restaurants on May 7 and 8, at the Casa Pilar Hotel.

Servsafe, the most widely used food safety certification course in the United States, was developed by the National Restaurant Association of Chicago–based on the US Food Code.

The Servsafe certification course will be held in cooperation with the Boracay Chamber of Commerce and Industry and global food safety company Ecobab.

"Boracay is a good staging ground to develop a cleanliness and food safety culture for the country, as all the challenges and variables are present," says Ecolab marketing manager and food safety advocate Roberto Dimayuga.

According to Dimayuga, time and temperature abuse is one of the major causes that make food unsafe. He said that food, cooked or uncooked, should not be exposed to room temperature beyond four hours.

He added that the summer heat accelerates the growth of microorganisms. Sporadic brownouts can thaw the freezer overnight which may require raw food to be discarded.

The EPG, composed of major stakeholders in the island’s tourism industry, was formed by virtue of Executive Order 377 to oversee the island’s sustainable tourism development. Among its thrusts is to elevate food safety in Boracay to global standards.

In March, Ecolab conducted the first Servsafe course with more than 30 participants at the Patio Pacific Resort. Among the participants are inspectors from the DoT who will monitor establishments for food safety compliance. "We sometimes joke about Filipinos’ resistance to food-borne bacteria. The truth of the matter is that we are just a susceptible as any other nationalities. What makes western tourists different is that they are accustomed to a culture of sanitation that makes our shortcomings very glaring," Dimayuga concluded.