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Evaluating Food Safety

One of the suggestions I made in the last blog was to assess the food safety culture in your organization by observing the food handling techniques of workers. Let’s explore that some more. You can do an overall assessment or you can hone in on specific areas of the operation, such as production or cleaning practices. Remember, when the environmental health inspector visits your operation, he/she just gets a snapshot of what is going on in your operation on that particular day at that specific time. You are there nearly every day, so you have a much better understanding on what really happens in your operation. For our purposes today, let’s focus on the practice of glove use because we know how important the correct…

Produce Safety: Special Considerations

In our last blog, I talked about general produce safety. Today, I want to talk about some special products—melons, tomatoes, leafy greens, and sprouts. These are all foods that have a history of bacterial contamination leading to foodborne illness. I also want to discuss salad bars because they have some special risks. Melons. Cantaloupe is the melon of most concern because it has a webbed rind, and bacteria are easily trapped in that webbing resulting in contamination of the meat of the melon. Many people (maybe some of your staff) think that they eliminate any hazard because they cut away the rind—but that is not the case. In fact, some of our observational research showed staff routinely skipping the wash step for many vegetables with…

Fresh and Tasty Produce, but are there Food Safety Concerns?

One of the best things about the middle of summer is the wonderful variety of tasty fresh produce that is available. I hope you are enjoying the fruits of the harvest because it has great flavor and provides us with a variety of important vitamins, minerals, and fiber needed to maintain good health. Unfortunately, there are also some food safety risks that come with all of the good qualities of fresh produce. Just this year, we have heard the stories of E. coli in romaine lettuce and several cases of foodborne illness due to a parasite (Cyclospora) in fresh cut vegetables and salads sold in quick service restaurants and grocery and convenience stores. In recent years, we have also seen outbreaks related to tomatoes, sprouts,...

SafeBites Time and Temperature Control: Why & When

Hi Everyone – Cathy here. Having written the SafeFood Blog for Iowa State University for over ten years, I am happy to have the opportunity to work with FoodHandler in my retirement. Jeannie and I share with FoodHandler a passion for making sure food served is safe. You might recall in the June blogs, Jeannie presented the Top 5 reasons why food becomes unsafe, and she discussed controls for two of those in efforts to reduce risk of cross contamination leading to a foodborne illness. In this month’s blog, the topic of preventing temperature abuse of foods will be covered. This week, the focus is on the “why” and “when” of time and temperature controls. The second blog in July will identify some action steps...

Mitigation Strategies for Cross Contamination

In our last blog, we talked about cross contamination, including the related risks and sources. Our focus today will be on some of the major strategies that can be used to mitigate cross contamination in a foodservice operation. Before we talk about those strategies, it is important to discuss the role of the management staff in controlling cross contamination. Owners and managers play a key role in food handling behaviors that occur in any foodservice operation. They are the ones who develop food safety policies, procedures, and expectations; provide training; and supervise employees on a daily basis. Each of these functions, which is part of providing active managerial control, will make the difference between a strong, or a weak, food safety program. Now, let’s talk…

Cross Out Cross Contamination

Cross contamination is a major risk factor contributing to foodborne illness, but there are steps that you can take in your foodservice operation to mitigate the risk.  In this blog, we cover the basics of cross contamination, the risks that result, and sources of cross-contamination so that you can understand the serious risk it presents. In the next blog, strategies to lower this risk will be covered. What is cross contamination? Cross contamination is the spread of pathogens (bacteria or viruses) from one surface to another that at some point contacts food. Those surfaces can be hands, equipment, counter tops and cutting boards, people, and even other foods. Cross contact is a related term that we should talk about, too. Cross contact is focused on…

Meet the Food Safety Leadership Team

Meet FoodHandler’s Food Safety Leadership Team: Jeannie Sneed, PhD, RD Dr. Sneed has been an educator and researcher in foodservice operations and food safety for over 30 years. She retired as a professor and administrator from Kansas State University where she also served as a research professor for the Center of Excellence for Food Safety Research in Child Nutrition Programs funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. NSF International awarded her the Lifetime Achievement Award for Food Safety Education and Research in 2007. She holds a PhD in foodservice management with a minor in organizational behavior from The Ohio State University. Catherine Strohbehn, PhD, RD, CP-FS Dr. Strohbehn has been an educator and researcher in the areas of foodservice management and food safety since 1986….

FDA has released the newest version of the Food Code

Blog by Lori Stephens based on the new FDA Food Code release. The FDA has released an updated version of the federal Food Code – Food Code 2017. What is the Food Code? The Food Code is a set of requirements based on science for preparing and serving food. The Food Code documents the best ways to prevent foodborne illness and injury.  It provides guidance for restaurants, retail food stores, vending operations and food service operations, including those in schools, hospitals, nursing homes and child care centers.  By following the requirements in the Food Code, these operations can eliminate the most important factors that can cause food safety hazards. The FDA provides this document to the food industry as a tool.  It is a very…