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Certified Food Managers Foodborne Illness Statistics

Certified Food Managers Guide to Foodborne Illness Statistics

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Gathering information on foodborne illness outbreaks gives us a greater insight into how these events start and what measures can be taken to prevent them in the future. The Center for Disease Control recently released a report outlining foodborne illness statistics and discussing testing and observation steps taken during outbreaks in 2018.

Certified Food Managers Foodborne Illness Statistics

CDC Report on Common Pathogens Causing Foodborne Illness

If you’ve taken a quick glance at this report, you may notice some very scientific language and a lot of statistics, so we’ll briefly break down some of the interesting facts in the report in simpler terms.

The bulk of this report discusses enteric infections, or food poisoning cases that affect the intestines. The two largest culprits discussed are campylobacter and salmonella infections. The CDC has confirmed nearly 10,000 infections of each in 2018. Following these two, e.Coli clocks in with nearly 3,000 cases, many of these coming from multiple outbreaks involving tainted romaine lettuce. This registers a 26-percent increase when compared to cases in 2015 to 2017.

Reading some of the discussions in this report indicate that the confirmed numbers are up partly due to improved testing methods. The CDC has increased the use culture-independent diagnostic tests, or CDITs, to diagnose suspected cases of enteric infections. This test is capable of identifying certain pathogens not routinely picked up by previously used testing methods.

While this report does have food-safety implications on a grand scale, what exactly does it mean to certified food managers?

We’ve drawn two conclusions from this report. First, improvements in testing technology show that illness from contaminated food is a larger issue than previous statistics have shown. This means that we should be more diligent then ever in promoting food safety in our establishments.

Finally, these advanced testing techniques have given us the most common pathogens and the food items that most commonly spread the infection. Seeing that there are targets the CDC has identified for improved food safety techniques gives us an insight into what types of ingredients require extra care. Certified food managers can be equipped with the knowledge that certain products are historically more susceptible than others and be diligent in inspecting shipments and following up on recalls and alerts concerning contaminated product.

Do statistics released by the CDC, USDA and other organizations have any effect on you handle food safety for susceptible products?

CFPMs_Touch_screens

CFPMs and Self-Service Touchscreens

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Advances in technology in the restaurant industry offers numerous opportunities for business owners to run their establishment in a more efficient and cost effective manner. Self-service touchscreen kiosks are one of the newest trends for major restaurants, especially fast food chains. A study in the UK, however, shows this new technology is creating major headaches for CFPMs and self-service touchscreens are proving to be a huge contamination risk .

CFPMs and Self-Service Touch Screens
Image credit: Wikimedia- TaiCIWJHai King Tung

CFPMs and Self-Service Touchscreens Contamination Problems

Researchers in Britain tested numerous McDonalds’ self-ordering touchscreens and discovered traces of fecal matter on every single one.

Let’s think about that closely for one second. They didn’t find fecal matter on a few, half or even 90 percent. They found traces of human feces on every single one. The list of specific bacteria found is fairly extensive, but it included the potential for hospital-grade illness from pathogens like Staphylococcus, listeria and Bacillus as well as standard food-borne illness outbreak culprits.

If that isn’t bad enough, the study also looked into the immediate hygiene habits of patrons using the machine. Customers would walk in, get in line and order. There was no sanitizing or washing of hands from the point of entry to the time of order. Many would order, take their seat, wait for their food and begin eating without washing their hands at all. This recipe for disaster should make food safety managers cringe.

With these screens infiltrating the dining rooms and lobbies in many different types of food service establishments, what can we do to keep our customers safe from potential infection?

The key is sanitation. The touch screen must be sanitized at regular intervals. If they’re the table top variety, sanitizing after each guest will remove all traces of bacteria that may have found their way to the surface from previous guests. But, lobby self-ordering systems are much harder to keep an eye on.

In this case, it’s unlikely you can enforce proper hygiene on all of your guests, but you can give them a nudge in the right direction. Attach a sanitizer dispenser to your touchscreen kiosk or have one readily available. We’d recommend having a sanitizer dispenser where the line begins and one at the machine itself. This will promote sanitation before and after ordering. Also, signage directing guests to the nearest washroom will also put the thought into their heads that maybe they should wash their hands before and after ordering.

Do you have touch screens available for your guest to use for ordering convenience?

ServSafe Basics for 12 Dirtiest Foods

ServSafe MN Basics for the Twelve Dirtiest Foods

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Recently, a food safety watchdog group published its list of 12 produce items that test most frequently for traces of pesticides, and there are a number of surprising foods on this list. This week, we’ll take a look at the list and provide and a ServSafe MN basics review for proper produce handling.

ServSafe Basics for 12 Dirtiest Foods
Image credit: U.S. Department of Agriculture

The Dirty Dozen and ServSafe MN Basics

As you can imagine, several foods grown in the dirt make an appearance on this list. Kale, potatoes, strawberries, spinach and celery make this notorious list. These foods grow close to or in the ground, and therefore close to bugs, snails and slugs, so many farmers treat their fields with some form of pesticide to protect their crop.

Tree fruits also figure prominently on this list. Apples, pears, peaches nectarines and cherries often test positive for pesticides, and vine and bush products such as tomatoes and grapes round out the list.

It’s important to note that there are no recalls or major warnings from the USDA concerning any of these fruits and vegetables. In fact, levels of pesticides found have not been labeled as dangerous or evaluated by any official agency, so let’s not panic and stop serving these items. It is, however, important information that serves as a reminder to review our ServSafe MN basics when it comes to handling raw produce.

Always inspect produce upon delivery. If you notice and odd smells, discoloration any type of sheen which looks chemical in nature, you may wish to consider rejecting shipment or asking for an exchange. Inspection on delivery is the first line of defense against serving contaminated food.

Make sure you wash all produce before serving, preparing or cooking. Pesticides can spread to other foods, leave residual traces on cutting boards and be consumed by guests, so washing produce is key.

Do you take extra precautions with certain ingredients, or do you carefully wash and inspect all produce regardless of type?

Future Food Safety Concerns

African Swine Fever and Future Food Safety Concerns

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We like to keep certified food protection managers informed on a wide range of issues concerning food safety, including future food safety concerns and potential threats government agencies are watching. This week, we’d like to take a close look at a situation in Asia that has the USDA on heightened alert for a situation that could have drastic impacts on our country’s pork supply.

Future Food Safety Concerns
Image Credit: Channel NewsAsia

How African Swine Fever Impacts Future Food Safety Concerns in the US

A recent discovery and seizure of illegal Chinese pork products has prevented a potential risk of African swine fever from reaching our shores.

The good news is, that there are no recorded cases of African swine fever in the United States, but with cases spreading throughout Asia, the risk becomes greater with every outbreak that this disease will someday reach our shores.

It is unclear what dangers ASF presents to humans. It can however kill a pig within a day. This could be disastrous and cause many pork products to become scarce, expensive and pose a threat to food safety. The USDA is taking this potential threat so seriously that they are recommending international travelers avoid visiting petting zoos and farms with pigs during their travels.

Most food suppliers source pork from the U.S. and reliably inspected international sources, however, it may be a good idea to keep an eye on where your product comes from. Make sure that you use pork products that come from a source you trust that has passed USDA standards.

While this threat has yet to reach our shores, it’s worth keeping an eye on. Would you really want to live in a world without bacon?