Foodborne illness and food poisoning is a real problem for restaurants. No owner wants to be responsible for making customers sick. Having one foodborne illness complaint can be very traumatic, but look at what Chipotle dealt with last year—six outbreaks in six months, 500 sick people across 10 states. They went around the horn twice with three of the most common foodborne illnesses: Salmonella, Norovirus, and E. coli. They lost more than $10 billion in stock value alone. Have a Foodborne Illness Response Plan Most small independent restaurants won’t ever have to deal with foodborne illness at the level of Chipotle’s outbreak, but what do they do when they receive just one complaint? … [Read more...]
No Food Safety Plan Means Salmonella Could Land on Customer Plates
Salmonella is one of the most common types of food poisoning. Infection can result in diarrhea, fever and stomach cramps; however, more serious cases can lead to hospitalization, organ failure and even death. As a restaurant inspector, it never ceases to amaze me how cavalier some restaurants are with their food-handling practices. I've talked with so many owners who think foodborne illness can never happen to them despite the laundry list of critical violations they racked up on their last inspection. Unfortunately, it takes a foodborne illness outbreak that results in personal injury to their customers and lawsuits that result in paying major damages, which can often lead to closing the … [Read more...]
Delivery 101: Inspection Tips for Food Safety
One area of food protection and food safety that often gets overlooked is delivery. Food should always be stored properly even when being delivered. All the same protections should be in place such as holding temperature, separating raw from ready-to-eat foods, and using containers that protect the food from insects or rodents. Food is delivered in many ways. Larger organizations have commissaries that produce food and then send it out to other locations using trucks, suppliers deliver large amounts of food to many restaurants all day, and many restaurants deliver meals right to customers' doorsteps. In each of these cases, the deliverer should be taking proper steps to ensure the food is … [Read more...]
Dennis Keith has been working as a restaurant and food safety professional for more than 20 years.