Certified ServSafe managers are hired and trained to ensure the kitchen they manage meets the highest food safety standards and prevents food-borne outbreaks. Sometimes, it’s tough to convince others why sticking to these strict rules is crucial. But, at times, it’s hard to get others to see the importance of being picky about following these stringent rules. We recently found a tool that can help ServSafe managers emphasize the importance of creating and sustaining a safe food production environment.
Food-Borne Illness Continues To Plague The US Hospitality Industry
According to the CDC, “Each year in the United States, Salmonella, STEC, and Listeria cause an estimated 1.49 million illnesses, 28,000 hospitalizations, and 700 deaths, at an estimated cost of more than $6 billion.” These are scary numbers; no restaurant wants to be associated with a food-borne outbreak. However, there is a continuous struggle within every restaurant about how much prevention is enough. What is the cost/benefit of our spending on food safety is.
A Resource For ServSafe Managers To Help Measure The Cost/Benefit Of Food-borne OutBreaks
Don’t worry; we just found an academic peer-reviewed study that provides ServSafe managers answers to that exact question. “Estimated Cost to a Restaurant of a Foodborne Illness Outbreak” was published online in April 2018 in Sage Journal. The article’s purpose was “Although outbreaks of restaurant-associated foodborne illness occur periodically and make the news, a restaurant may not know the cost of an outbreak. We estimated this cost under varying circumstances.”
Attention, this document is an academic paper and hard to read. You can just scan the article to understand the complexity of the research and then go to the conclusions. The range of the cost numbers is due to a variance from a [5-person outbreak, with no lost revenue, lawsuits, legal fees, or fines}; spanning to a [250-person outbreak, with high lost revenue (100 meals lost per illness), and a high amount of lawsuits and legal fees ($1,656,569) and fines ($100,000)]. But here is the bottom line:
| Type of Restaurant | Cost of a single foodborne illness outbreak |
| Fast-food restaurant | $3,968 to $1.9 million |
| Fast-casual restaurant | $6,330 to $2.1 million |
| Casual-dining restaurant | $8,030 to $2.2 million |
| Fine-dining restaurant | $8,273 to $2.6 million |
Advocate For Proper Funding
This data highlights the substantial cost of a single foodborne illness outbreak to a restaurant. The illness cost can outweigh the typical expenses of prevention and control measures. ServSafe managers must advocate for proper funding to keep the operation safe and minimize the probability of a devastating food-borne outbreak. You can use this data:
- when talking with decision-makers (owners) to justify additional funding
- in conversations with managers to recommend changes in other parts of the operation, such as in front-of-house
- to motivate your own staff
Certified ServSafe managers are critical in upholding the highest food safety standards and preventing foodborne outbreaks in their kitchens. Certainly, there are challenges in convincing others of the importance of strict adherence to these rules. This study sheds light on the staggering costs associated with foodborne illnesses. It underscores the urgent need for adequate funding to ensure operational safety and mitigate the risk of devastating outbreaks. ServSafe managers can leverage this data to advocate for increased funding, recommend operational improvements, and motivate staff, ultimately safeguarding both public health and your restaurant’s reputation.
