The Blank Canvas of a New Year: Don’t Leave your Food Safety Program out of your New Year’s Resolutions
Each year, we get the opportunity to begin a new year and turn to a new page, sort of speak. As we start the journey of a new year, we are reminded of New Year’s resolutions everywhere we look – from television commercials to your social media streams. But it is also important to take stock of where we are and where we have been, both personally and professionally. We come out of the holiday season where we have time to be with family, time to relax a bit and slow down, and time to focus on ourselves. When we return to work at the start of the new year, we often get so busy in the day-to-day management of our operations that we fail to assess our businesses in the same manner we do our personal lives.
From a food safety perspective, what better way to assess where we are than to look back at the foodborne illness outbreaks we faced in the United States in 2021? While the actual data from FDA and CDC related to foodborne outbreaks is not finalized, as I looked back on the outbreaks, it seems that they can be summarized in one word – produce! While all outbreaks were not produce-related, there are several that were. A few of which we discussed in the blogs throughout the year.
… as we start the new year, take stock of the food safety practices and systems in your operations, and consider where you want to end the year of 2022.
In November, we discussed the Salmonella Oranienburg outbreak from red, yellow, and white onions. The outbreak investigation is still active, with close to 900 illnesses and 183 hospitalizations. We also experienced several salad-related outbreaks in 2021. In July, BrightFarms recalled a salad mix contaminated with Salmonella Liverpool, the outbreak caused 31 illnesses and four hospitalizations. Later in the year, an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak was linked to spinach, causing 14 outbreaks and four hospitalizations. Closing out the year in December, we had two independent outbreaks of Listeria monocytogenes related to packaged salad mixes, and while both are ongoing, have resulted in 26 illnesses, 22 hospitalizations, and three deaths.
Other outbreaks in 2021 were related to soft cheeses, shrimp, seafood, cake mixes, cashew Brie, and bottled water. In six of the outbreaks, officials were unable to determine the source and in two of the outbreaks, officials have yet to identify the source of contamination.
Thus, as we start the new year, take stock of the food safety practices and systems in your operation, and consider where you want to end the year of 2022. Hopefully, you have a few improvements to your food safety system in mind. If not, take a few lessons from the outbreaks we have experienced over the last year. Are your traceability systems in order? Has your staff been trained to properly handle fresh produce?
Whatever you decide to embark on for the year ahead, start small and don’t try to change everything at the same time. Encourage employee buy-in and focus on those lynchpin behaviors we have discussed before. Think of the new year as a blank canvas. What will your canvas show at the end of the year? Risk Nothing.
Getting Started with Building the Infrastructure
Hopefully in our first January blog, we convinced you of the importance of establishing an infrastructure within your operation to support a safe food culture. So, how does one go about doing this? Well, like any major project, break it into small bites. In our opinion, having a written guide for employees that documents expectations related to food safety basics of employee health and hygiene, temperature controls, and cleaning and sanitizing is the first step. Having this documentation serves as a reference for training and helps fulfill the mission of most foodservice operators which is to serve safe, quality food.
Food Safety Resolutions for the New Year
Finally, 2020 is in our rearview mirror and we can all turn the page to 2021! Resolutions for the new year might be more of the same from prior years (lose weight, exercise more, less screen time, etc.) OR you may have identified new practices to implement in your operation. If the latter, likely goals included some practices related to food safety – especially given the turmoil of 2020 and heightened concern by customers. It is our philosophy that attention to safe food handling practices is a win-win for any operation because of the direct relationship between food safety and food quality, which in turn leads to customer satisfaction. This past year has also demonstrated that attention to safety can affect the bottom line. Thus, the topic of our first SafeBites webinar for 2021 is on the topic of the return on investment of food safety, it is scheduled for January 20, so register now and please plan to attend.
To Toss or Not to Toss? That is the question.
Our first blog for the month emphasized the basic safe food practices needed to keep you and your guests healthy (and happy!), especially during these times of COVID. The impact of foodborne illness can range from an uncomfortable few days to hospitalization or death. Foodborne illness IS preventable and the steps taken to keep food safe also maintain quality of food, and ultimately profitability. Think of attention to food safety as part of quality control and a win-win business strategy. Knowledge about food safety can be helpful when controlling costs as making wise decisions when determining the fate of unserved food can affect the bottom line.
Holiday Food Safety Controls
In case you have not noticed - the holidays are here! We have seen store decorations up since mid-September and early bird deals advertised for several weeks, stretching the typical Black Friday deals throughout the month as retailers strive to ensure market share, while following increasingly stringent mandates for physical distancing
