Foodborne Illness: It CAN Happen to You.

This year, there have been numerous, widespread, serious foodborne illness outbreaks. Many in the food service industry think it won’t happen to them. But it could happen to anyone—and it could ruin a reputation.

Chipotle prides itself on “food with integrity,” but the restaurant chain had multiple reports of foodborne illness outbreaks this year; Norovirus and Salmonella several months ago, and now E.coli in restaurants across nine states. Tainted celery caused an E.coli outbreak at retail chain Costco. Hardee’s had a Hepatitis A outbreak that exposed thousands. Just over a year ago, exclusive Mohonk Mountain House Resort had a Norovirus outbreak that made hundreds of visitors ill. These incidents potentially cost companies millions of dollars in litigation, settlements, plummeting stocks, and lost sales. Not to mention, it takes significant time, money, and energy to re-build the brand after the negative fallout. Some organizations—like ChiChis—never recover from a foodborne illness outbreak. All of the abovementioned companies have implemented corporate policies and procedures to protect against foodborne illness, yet something still went wrong. The risk is real for every company serving food. Here is how to avoid it from happening:

Get your team formally trained in a Certified Food Manager course. This reiterates the importance of the critical rules and regulations that you learned when you began in the food service business. Sometimes, a busy day or being short-staffed distracts employees from following the basic rules. A “refresher” course is a helpful reminder of the fundamentals.

Train your employees using a Food Handlers program. Provide your team with basic, but critical, food safety knowledge. The more educated your team, the safer and more profitable your organization.

If you have refrigerators in guestrooms, monitor the temperatures daily. Keep temperature logs. Guests expect the units to be working appropriately—so ensure they do.

Wash your fresh fruit and wrap it in plastic. If you offer whole fruit in bowls at your front desk or buffet, this protects the produce from guests’ potentially dirty hands as they select their fruit.

Take extra precautions at buffets. Assign team members to monitor these areas constantly for food safety (e.g., correct temps, no cross contamination) and food defense (e.g., customers potentially tainting items).

Conduct self-inspections. This enables you to catch small issues before they become big problems. For example, if you receive a delivery that wasn’t stored properly, you can take corrective action to avoid spoilage issues, cross-contamination, or cross-contact.

Use temperature logs. This helps you spot temperature issues before they become a cost factor or liability issue. By utilizing temperature logs, you can take corrective action prior to having to waste product, therefore decreasing food cost and increasing profit margins. This allows you to find temperature issues prior to the health inspector writing them up as code violations but, most importantly, it’s a proactive means to keeping your patrons healthy.

Hire an agency to conduct third-party audits. Often, bringing in an objective third party will boost your profits and increase your health inspection scores. Another set of eyes from the “outside” will see things from a different perspective, which can be invaluable. They can review key elements that the health inspector will assess, and point out possible infractions. Hire someone reputable, who knows the business and genuinely cares about your outcome.

Utilize single-use gloves properly. Single-use gloves are a protective barrier between your hands and the food you serve. If your gloves become contaminated, they’re useless. Prior to putting on the gloves, wash your hands properly with warm water 100⁰F and soap, then dry them thoroughly on a single-use towel. Never blow into the gloves or roll them to make them easier to put on—these practices cause contamination. Change gloves when they become dirty or torn, when changing tasks, and after interruptions, such as taking a phone call.

If it Can Happen to Chipotle, It Can Happen to You.

Originally published in the December issue of Total Food Service Magazine.

If you work in the food service industry, you’re likely aware that fast casual chain, Chipotle, has experienced three foodborne illness outbreaks in the past three months. Since August, there have been reports of Norovirus, Salmonella, and E.coli – 3 of the “BIG 6” reportable foodborne illnesses.

This has been a real crisis for Chipotle. Including all three outbreaks, 44 restaurants were closed in three states, and hundreds of people became ill. To recover from just one food poisoning incident is challenging enough - many brands never do – but to recover from three incidents will be even more difficult. 

Remember Chi-Chi’s? Chi-Chi's was named "America's Favorite Mexican Restaurant" eight years in a row.  However, one of the worst Hepatitis A outbreaks to ever take place in the U.S. food service industry occurred at a Chi-Chi's in the Pittsburgh, PA area, where four people died and 660 people contracted the virus in 2003.  The incident was eventually traced to green onions at the Chi-Chi's at Beaver Valley Mall in Monaca, PA. Not even a year later, Chi-Chi’s closed its doors. Thankfully, there haven’t been any deaths in the Chipotle outbreak, but three outbreaks in as many months means rebuilding brand confidence is going to be very challenging.

If you’re in the food service industry, it’s time for you to pause and seriously think about your business. Every organization must create policies and procedures, and also make certain that they are being followed. All of the knowledge in the world doesn’t do a bit of good if it’s not applied.

We have an obligation to our guests to be certain that the products we’re serving are purchased from reputable suppliers. Whether you’re buying these products from a national corporation or have made the decision to support local farmers, the food MUST be safe.  What policies do you have in place to be certain that your suppliers are providing you with the safest products possible? I can assure you Chipotle absolutely has strong food safety policies and procedures in place, and their corporate office carefully researches their suppliers. After all, their slogan is “food with integrity”.  

How do you reduce the risks of making your guests ill?

• Purchase from approved reputable suppliers.
• Require your suppliers to have HACCP (Hazzard Analysis and Critical Control Point) plans.  Obtain copies of their documentation for your records.

• Require all management personnel to obtain a Food Manager’s Certification.
• Make certain that everyone on your staff washes their hands appropriately, with soap and hot water, using single-use towels to dry them.
• Keep hot food hot and cold food cold or don’t keep it.
• Food thermometers must be easily accessible – not locked in the office – and should be used to monitor the temperature of food.
• Food thermometers should be calibrated daily at a minimum; I recommend once a shift (and when they are new, prior to their initial use and also if they are dropped).
• Take the temperatures of products upon delivery. If food products are unsafe when they arrive, there is nothing you can do to make them safe later.
• TRAIN, TRAIN, TRAIN and TRAIN some more. When you have well-trained staff, there’s a much higher chance that they’ll properly prepare the food, which will make your establishment safer and more profitable.  This will also lower your risks for liability, a ruined reputation and other negative fall-out from a foodborne illness incident.

These foodborne illnesses have caused Chipotle’s stock to plunge – only a few days after their biggest gain in four years.  And, of course, its reputation has taken a nosedive, as well, thanks to ongoing negative media stories, which have been running nationwide.  How did this happen to such a reputable company, one who was has grown at a remarkable pace over the past several years? Obviously something is awry.

If multiple foodborne illness incidents can happen to a national brand as reputable as Chipotle, with plentiful resources at their fingertips, it can happen to you, too.  The risks are real in every kitchen, regardless of genre. One mistake and your reputation - and your livelihood - could be over forever. Remember, foodborne illnesses are 100% preventable, so prevent them from happening in your restaurant!

Francine L. Shaw is President of Food Safety Training Solutions, Inc., which offers a robust roster of services, including food safety training, food safety auditing, food allergy training, responsible alcohol service training, writing HACCP plans and more. The Food Safety Training Solutions team has more than100 combined years of industry experience in restaurants, casinos, and convenience stores. The company has helped numerous clients, including McDonald’s, Subway, Marriott, Domino’s, Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts of America, Dairy Queen, and Omni Hotel and Resorts, prevent foodborne illnesses. Additionally, they work with restaurants of all sizes, schools, medical facilities, convenience stores, hotels and casinos.