Archive for year: 2020

We all know that the health department tracks cases of foodborne illness reported to them by consumers who are sickened by food, but did you know that certified food protection managers are required to play an active role in the reporting of and tracking of illnesses of both guests and staff? This week, we’ll take a close look at the reporting duties of a certified food protection manager, and how tracking employee illnesses plays a vital role in keeping the public safe.

When are Certified Food Protection Managers Required to Report Illnesses?

Many certified food managers may be hesitant to inform the health department when one of their guests claims to have been sickened by the food they were served. They may think that this could instantly lead to an inspection, or even an unwarranted punishment inflicted on the establishment. Over the course of our years of food safety training, we’ve found local health inspectors are more interested in keeping the public safe and solving problems rather than punishing food production facilities. In fact, it could turn out that your establishment wasn’t responsible for poisoning a guest, but the information you provide could lead to a source in the supply chain where product may have become contaminated.

Even if it’s just one case, MN illness reporting requires certified food protection managers to contact the health department if a guest claims to have symptoms including vomiting and diarrhea. They are also required to report suspected cases of:

• E.coli
• Hepatitis A
• Norovirus
• Salmonella
• Shigella
• Parasitic Infections

Reporting these types of cases to the health department helps them establish whether or not there is a pattern or cause to look into a potential outbreak, be it in your restaurant or somewhere in the supply chain.

The same scenario is true when one of your staff becomes ill. Certified food protection manager training tells us that a record should be kept of staff illnesses. You should track which employees have called out sick with stomach ailments or who have been diagnosed with common foodborne illnesses. If a pattern emerges, there may be the need to take a look a food safety lapses that may be directly infecting your staff.

How do you handle reports of foodborne illness that may have originated at your business?

With several outbreaks involving romaine lettuce over the past several years, food safety professionals are concerned with the availability and sustainability of leaving this ingredient on their menu. While studies have been inconclusive as to why the last outbreak occurred, we’ve heard some local industry professionals talk about a potential alternative to sourcing romaine from areas that have shown to be high risk. Can indoor farms be the solution the food safety industry is looking for?

How Food Safety Training in Indoor Farms Reduces Pathogen Risk

While food safety in the farming industry is a little outside of our training expertise, we’ve dealt with numerous food safety managers who have considered giving up on serving romaine due to its poor track record concerning foodborne illness. The concept of indoor farming seems to have the potential for easing those fears and greatly reducing the risk of spreading salmonella and E.coli to the general public via crispy, delicious Caesar salads and other fresh dishes involving romaine lettuce.

One of the unique things about indoor hydroponic and aeroponic lettuce farming is that there is very little chance of cross-contamination. These farms grow lettuce in a sterile environment away from livestock and potentially contaminated irrigation systems.

At the present time, however, there appear to be numerous challenges for restaurateurs and other food production facilities when it comes to sourcing lettuce grown indoors and away from potential contaminates. The hydroponic industry has plenty of potential for growth, especially when it comes to farmers looking for a low-pathogen risk way to grow product which traditionally grows in the dirt, but there are very few farmers who produce enough lettuce in this manner to make headway into the national supply chain. Hydroponic and aeroponic growers tend to be smaller and local, and may not produce as much product as large outdoor farms. During our research, however, we did find a few farms in our state that utilize this method, and the future looks promising.

Would you pay more for romaine lettuce if you knew it was grown in a MN indoor farm environment with minimal risk of pathogen contamination?