Wash your hands!

[kuan]

On the news today, a foodborne illness outbreak with one fatality. This time it's Hepatitis A.

http://pittsburgh.about.com/b/a/041135.htm

Take extra care my friends.

Kuan

[katbalou]

dear kuan,
this is so true - i recently became employed at a local health club and this is the 2nd time in a month that i've become ill. not to such an extent as those in the article, but enough to keep me out of work today with the flu. i think that some of the members don't really understand good sanitation practices. such as washing your hands when using the restrooms. and this is a fairly well educated group!
kat

[phoebe]

This is more than a little scary. Did you folks see this study done by the American Society of Microbiology in airport bathrooms?

http://www.cbc.ca/stories/news/2003/...and_wash030915

[katbalou]

dear phoebe,
way more than a little scary. perhaps i'll make a copy of that article and post it in the restrooms. not sure if the customers would get the point though......
kat

[RitaFajita]

I noticed at the bottom of the link Phoebe provided, there was a link to another article about e-coli. In this article, one spokesperson was quoted as saying...

"E. coli is an ongoing food safety issue that we need to address right through the entire beef chain," said McNabb.

I think this illustrates the complexity of the sanitaion issue - not just with E. Coli, but with salmonella, Hep. A., etc. My employees call me "The OCD one" I am so obsessed with sanitation. I teach them about the importance of it, I insist they follow strick guidelines, I talk with my health department on a regular basis about the best ways to insure food safety.

What keeps me up at night? Not my habits, not my employee's habits. I have some degree of control over that. What really makes me nervous is, what have my food products been exposed to before they even reach me?? And why is it that the restaurant- at practically the end of the supply line - has to bear so much responsibility for what often happens before food even reaches that level?

The powers that be just say, "cook your ground beef or you'll be in trouble." I wonder what they would say to this....

A few months ago, I restaurant in my area was, apparently, the origin of a Hepatitus A outbreak. After more press on the matter than the restaurant will probably ever be able to recover from, it was determined that the infection was being transmitted via some green onions that already had it on them when they came into the facility!!!

Given that green onions are often served raw as a garnish, I wonder if anyone out there has figured out a way to get rid of Hep. A by washing said veggie with plain water???

It seems to me that this restaurant was faced with a lose-lose situation, and they didn't cause it! Why were they held accountable (and probably destroyed) instead of the company the green onions came from?

Why aren't there higher standards for the people in charge of picking our produce or slaughtering our beef?

RF

[RitaFajita]

Click on the link that says "shipment of green onions" in what kuan posted for more info.
Thanks for the article, Kuan.
RF

[Jim]

At the start of the school year, I called our local environmental health department to come speak to the students. They showed some GREAT (a/k/a graphic! ) pictures.
Also, they did a handwashing demo that used a powdered 'bacteria' that showed up under unltraviolet light. The students were told to wash their hands; some with soap, some with hot water, some cold water, etc. Then the UV light was turned on to show them how effective/ineffective their handwashing had been. VERY interesting reactions!
The health department was very accomodating and willing to do the demonstration. Might be worthwhile for you to have your local inspectors come in to do a 'proactive' presentation.

[ChefFoxx]

quote:
A few months ago, I restaurant in my area was, apparently, the origin of a Hepatitus A outbreak. After more press on the matter than the restaurant will probably ever be able to recover from, it was determined that the infection was being transmitted via some green onions that already had it on them when they came into the facility!!!

Rita my dear, That's what they get for saving a few pennies buying produce from Mexico. The only way you can control your product before you get it is to KNOW your supplier. Go small, if you can, and establish a relationship with a local farm. We need to support our farmers, not undercut them with cheap produce from Mexico.

On another note- don't work at Naples Beach & Golf Club in Fl. I worked one night and found no bleach or any kind of sanitizer. Yuck! Not to mention no equipment or even towels to use.