The Role Of The Health Inspector

My company has recently been charged with conducting some health inspections in a specific area.  Most of my visits have been pretty uneventful; however, a few have been more than noteworthy.  having spent over 20 years in the industry myself, I know first hand how challenging any given day can be.  It has also enabled me to distinguish between "working dirt" and "filth"; as well as, the difference between the truth vs. lies and excuses. 

As I go through each day, my goal is not to close restaurants or find violations.  My goal is simply to protect the public from illness or God forbid...death.  We have encountered many folks who are trying to "do the right thing"; and, several who have bent, twisted, and broken every rule in the book.
My question is, as operators, why do some think the rules apply to everyone BUT them?  I don't care if they are corporations or small "Mom & Pop" type establishments...the guidelines are the same for everyone - no one is "out to get you".

Bottom line is, if your establishment is clean and your following the rules...there is absolutely NOTHING to worry about with any inspection.

A Matter Of Public Record...

Today began yet another week in the food service industry.   I spent 20+ years in food service, scrubbing walls, floors, drains, and even the thresholds and door jams at the entrances/exit doors of the building.  I thought this is what good managers were SUPPOSED to do.  My employees had names for me (I'm certain) when I pulled out the toothbrushes and said, "Well, we're not busy today so we need to clean!".  We even scrubbed the grout with toothbrushes!  I can't imagine any inspector coming into my facility and telling me it was filthy and needed to be cleaned.  I would have been mortified.  I don't want to even think about how many managers I have said just that to in the past week.

How many of you know that health inspections are public record?  In most states you can go online and check out the scores of your favorite restaurants....reward those that are doing a good job by frequenting their facilities.  If they're not doing a good job, well - I'll let you make that decision on your own!

Yet another day...

Today was yet another day...  I wish I could share more...very frustrating.  The answer is educate, educate, educate...how sure are you about the facilities you where you eat?  Is there license current?  Are they food safety certified?

A Day In The Life Of A Health Inspector...

A co-worker and I were out conducting health inspections today.  I am utterly amazed by some of the things we found.  In one situation we ran across some cooked meat product that was being held for an undetermined amount of time at room temperature.  When I questioned the owner of the facility, all he could say was "Our customers love us..."; this was his response for almost every issue we found.  My question is, "How many of your customers are going to love you if you make someone sick.  Or, worse yet kill someone."  We obviously disposed of the product, but I wonder how many people had already consumed it?

Hand Washing 101

How many of you know that there is a proper way to wash your hands?  How many of you actually wash your hands in that manner?  What if I told you that proper hand washing could save more lives than any vaccine, would you change your habits?  Statistically speaking, one of three people wash their hands after using the restroom...that's about one third of us. 

Hand washing is easy to do and it's one of the most effective ways to prevent the spread of many types of infection and illness in all settings—from your home and workplace to child care facilities and hospitals. Clean hands can stop germs from spreading from one person to another and throughout an entire community.

When should you wash your hands?

• Before, during, and after preparing food
• Before eating food
• Before and after caring for someone who is sick
• Before and after treating a cut or wound
• After using the toilet
• After changing diapers or cleaning up a child who has used the toilet
• After blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing
• After touching an animal, animal feed, or animal waste
• After touching garbage

What is the right way to wash your hands?

• Wet your hands with clean running water (warm or cold) and apply soap.
• Rub your hands together to make a lather and scrub them well; be sure to scrub the backs of your hands, between your fingers, and under your nails.
• Continue rubbing your hands for at least 10-15 seconds. Need a timer? Hum the "Happy Birthday" song from beginning to end twice.
• Rinse your hands well under running water.
• Dry your hands using a clean towel or air dryer.
• Use a paper towel to exit the restroom.
   

Washing hands with soap and water is the best way to reduce the number of germs on them. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers can quickly reduce the number of germs on hands in some situations, but sanitizers do not eliminate all types of germs.

 

The Crusty Carafe

I'm back!  Busy couple of months...many exciting things happening.  Of those, the biggest is that my son married a beautiful young lady on May 4th.  She's been a member of the family for a long time but we're all thrilled that it is now official.  Then my three year old granddaughter came to visit for two weeks, we absolutely adore this child and don't get to spend a tremendous amount of time with her.  She goes back home tomorrow, I can't imagine what it's going to be like without her here.  Anyway, it's back to work.

I was teaching a food safety seminar in New Jersey a few weeks ago.  My travel arrangements were made by my client.  I stayed at a reputable facility but I can assure you this property was not the image the brand wants to reflect....It was awful!  From my overnight room with nasty sheets (I slept on top of the comforter fully dressed) to the meeting room with drapes stapled to the wall!  I got a cup of coffee from the coffee station in the morning and it was so horrible, I had to pitch it.  There wasn't enough cream and sugar in the building to make it consumable....When you're in the business I am once you notice one problem you tend to become increasingly aware of other issues.  Milk on the breakfast counter in a crusty carafe and not on ice - at say about seventy degrees...the whole experience ranks right up there as one of my worst (photos below).  Over the past several days I've been watching the story below unfold...How may people need to get sick or die before people take food safety and cleanliness seriously??? 

http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2013/05/illnesses-tied-to-nc-holiday-inn-salmonella-outbreak-rise-to-51/#.UZeIAXPD_oZ

Norovirus...It Can Happen To ANYONE!

Last week the “world’s top restaurant” was hit by an outbreak of Norovirus.  According to The Danish Veterinary and Food Administration, 63 of 435 guests over a two day period in February were stricken by this illness.  

This story went viral in a matter of hours, food websites, twitter, facebook, and major media outlets, were all reporting on this incident.  True, as it may be, this restaurant is located on the other side of the world – so what does it have to do with us?

Norovirus has been at epidemic levels, causing almost 21 million illnesses each year in the U.S. alone.  According to the CDC, there is no specific treatment or prevention.  The best cure…PROPER HANDWASHING AND FOOD HYGIENE.  Norovirus is highly contagious; symptoms include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, or gastroenteritis.  Often times, carriers do not even know they are carrying the virus, and may still be carrying it after they have recovered from the symptoms.  Norovirus can survive temperatures, from below freezing to over 140⁰F; it can survive for nearly two weeks on many surfaces.  And, it takes less than 20 viral particles to cause illness.

Though norovirus can be spread virtually anytime, anywhere it is prevalent in schools, nursing homes, restaurants, and cruise ships – which incidentally had two outbreaks last week, according to the CDC.  It takes only one infected individual to perpetuate an outbreak.  In addition, the CDC reports that nearly 50% of norovirus outbreaks can be traced back to foodservice workers.  You cannot rely on hand sanitizers to kill norovirus, it takes soap and hot water.

Education and training of food service workers is essential, not only at the management level but at ALL levels.   Good basic food safety training is essential.  After all, if it can happen at the “world’s top restaurant”, could it happen to you?

The Flu & Food Safety

Did you know?

An invisible sneeze droplet can contain 200 MILLION droplets of germs! 

* Think about this 200 MILLION droplets of germs x ("our sanitizer kills 99.9% of germs!") .01% = YUK!!!!

Statistics say that Norovirus, the number one foodbourn illness in the USA, can remain alive and well for 12 hours on hard surfaces and up to 12 days on contaminated fabrics such as carpets and upholstery.  In still water, it can survive for months, maybe even years.    It’s resistant to household disinfectants and even alcohol based hand gels.  This illness wreaks havoc in hospitals, schools, prisons, nursing homes, day cares, cruise ships, and hotels.

It takes fewer than 20 particles to infect someone with Norovirus.  This means that each droplet of vomit or gram of feces – yes feces, or if you prefer – poo – from an infected person can contain enough infection to contaminate more than 100,000 individuals.  Norovirus like the flu is running rampant this year and unlike the flu…IT IS A FOOD SAFETY ISSUE.

To learn more about the flu and food safety join us today 1.24.2013 @ 3:00 EST at Keeping It Kleen where I will be hosting a twitter party.   Join the chat @ http://tweetchat.com/room/kleenchat  we would love to chat with you there!  It’s sure to be tons of fun!

EXCITING NEWS!

Hey everyone, I have some exciting news!  I am hosting a party!  A twitter party, yep - that's right, a twitter party!  Warm up your thumbs, wipe down your phone, and get ready to join me and the folks at Keeping It Kleen.  We can't wait to chat with you.  The topic will be the flu and food safety.  Click the link for below for the details:

http://www.keepingitkleen.com/commercial-blog/join-us-at-kleenchat-when-we-talk-all-things-flu-food-safety/

Then join us Thursday 1.24.2013 at 3:00 EST @  http://tweetchat.com/room/kleenchat

Looking forward to chatting with you there! 

Stay Healthy,
Francine

WHAT'S A FOODBORNE ILLNESS OUTBREAK COST?

Some of you read my blogs regularly and may know that I am a subject matter expert in the Food Safety arena.  I have been in the food service industry for over 35 years (ugh!).  Seems impossible since I'm only 35...hahahhaha

Anyway, this past year has been a nightmare.  One outbreak after another, one recall after another, people not only in the US but around the world getting sick and dying from foodborne illnesses - which by the way, are 100% preventable.

Only a portion of the states in the U.S. require food service operators to have a food safety certification.  Most reputable corporations require it of their management personnel.  This stuff needs to be take seriously.  People need to stop getting ill and dying because of someone else's carelessness or stupidity.  Many companies conduct internal training, I have no issue with that, as long as it's done properly and it's not a "let's just get through the test mentality".  It only takes one weak link and if we start multiplying those week links, well...

Once food comes into an establishment unsafe, there's nothing you can do to make it safe.  I am attaching a link pertaining to some contaminated lettuce....quite a chain of events. 

http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2013/01/lettuce-served-by-kfctaco-bell-in-canada-contaminated-with-e-coli/

I understand that training is expensive and everyone has a bottom line to concentrate on; however, well trained staff saves money.  It's a fact..  And, what's is going to cost if someone gets sick or dies?  A whole lot more than basic food safety training...

NO MATTER HOW LONG I LIVE...

No matter how long I live, some things will never cease to amaze me.  My husband and I went out for dinner tonight he wanted pizza, so we drove to a restaurant about 30 minutes from our home - we live in a pretty rural area.  The restaurant is a national chain - a franchise. 

We ordered a specialty pizza, he was pretty anxious to try it.  I have to tell you, I have NEVER eaten a worse pizza; it was horrible.  I think it's the first time I've ever eaten dry pizza...  After two bites, I decided I was finished.  This left me plenty of time to just sit and observe.  I know better than to face the kitchen!  Given my occupation, it's never a good idea.  As I was talking to my husband waiting for him to finish, I noticed  a horses head over the "wall" towards the kitchen...what?  I did a double take, sure enough - the cook had some headgear on that resembled a horses head, hair and all!  I'm not a prude and I don't mind employees having a good time but really?  Is this acceptable?  Should this be acceptable?  Of course not.

In the meantime, a little boy - about 7 years old - was at the salad bar alone making himself a salad.  He dropped his bowl and all of its contents on the floor.  Not certain what he should do, he began attempting to clean it up.  He placed the contents that had spewed all over the floor back into the bowl, as several of the establishments employees walked around him.  No one offered to help and I don't know where his parents were.  After he had everything cleaned up to his satisfaction and back in his bowl, he placed it back on the salad bar and start adding more to the contents.  Just as I was about to get up, an employee finally came over to rectify the situation.  Wow..at what point is it proper to intervene?  What made those employees think it was OK to just walk around that little boy and not help him?  Let alone, allow him to place that dirty bowl and its contents back onto the salad bar...this establishment was not busy - not that that would have made it acceptable.

I enjoyed my lemonade and our waitress was very nice, so it wasn't a total loss.  Won't be in any rush to go back.

And, for those operators that are wondering.  If you wouldn't do it if the health inspector was standing there, you shouldn't do it when they're not.

The Main Dish: IT'S THAT TIME...PITCH THE LEFTOVERS

The Main Dish: IT'S THAT TIME...PITCH THE LEFTOVERS: We're 6 day's into the new year and my husband and most of my friends have been knocked on their butts by the flu!  It's some nasty stuff.  ...

January 12th...the flu is lingering.  No of them have fully recovered!

IT'S THAT TIME...PITCH THE LEFTOVERS

We're 6 day's into the new year and my husband and most of my friends have been knocked on their butts by the flu!  It's some nasty stuff.  I don't think Tim has moved for 3 or 4 days.

As I said, we are already six days into the new year.  Yes, 2013 has arrived and is here to stay for another 359 days...It seems like a long time but before we know it, it will be Christmas again!

If you have not already done so it's time to purge all of those New Year's Eve and New Year's Day leftovers from your refrigerator.  It's too late to make soup from that leftover ham, don't do it!  I don't care how good the ham still smells, it's time to toss it.  And, grab that eggnog and dump it too.

This is an exciting month for us...we are training in another new state (New Jersey) and I will be the guest host @ Keeping it Kleen's Twitter Party (#Kleenchat) on 1.24.13 from 3:00 - 4:00 p.m. EST.  Be sure to join in on the fun! 

As I type this blog, they're talking about "poison pizza" on the television...ironic.  Food safety issues are everywhere!

Follow us on twitter @ foodsafetytraining@fsts3787

 

IT'S A NEW YEAR!

It's a new year!  One has to wonder what this year will bring...we (as a country) didn't fall off the proverbial fiscal cliff, so what does that mean?  As far as food safety is concerned, it means there is less money to spend to ensure the safety of the food we consume.  In essence, it's more than likely going to be more of the same.  More bad food, more illnesses, more deaths.  We as individuals are going to have to take it upon ourselves to educate one another on the perils of food safety.

How do we do this?  When you're out, don't be afraid to speak up!  If you see an employee that's not washing their hands, say something.  If you see someone that's not wearing gloves, say something.  If you notice an expired food safety certification or lack of certification, again say something.  You deserve safe food!

Every year in this country an estimated 76 million people get a foodborne illness, 325,000 people are hospitalized and 5,000 individuals die...why?  This is 100% preventable, there is no excuse!  I believe education is the answer.  Education and accountability.    Well trained employees are more productive, reduce food cost, and are less likely to cause harm to your clientele.

Why not invest in the best insurance policy you can get?  A well trained staff...