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Overcoming food-safety stereotypes
March 31, 2008 - Julie Sturgeon
In the 27 years since Farmer Boys restaurant launched in Riverside, Calif., president Ken Clark has seen a change in customer attitudes. The families that walk through his doors to order a tuna melt or a grilled chicken salad today are far more aware this next meal could make them ill.
"It's a situation that's growing as people learn more, and they certainly demand more from the restaurants," Clark said.
Each year, millions of illnesses in this country can be blamed on foodborne bacteria, according to the Partnership for Food Safety Education — a conglomeration that represents groups such as industry associations, the Department of Health and Human Services and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Food and Drug Administration estimates 2 percent to 3 percent of these illnesses lead to secondary long-term illnesses.
Additionally, the CDC has come out with startling news for some: There's no such thing as a 24-hour flu. If a person experiences vomiting that comes and goes in that time frame, she likely is a victim of cross-contamination or other food poisoning. The CDC also reports approximately 5,000 people a year die from foodborne illnesses.
Food prepared at home can create those outcomes, too. But with consumer confidence at an 18-year low, the restaurant industry doesn't need another obstacle to overcome in its bid for diners, said Jeff Palmer, president of Daymark Safety Systems in Bowling Green, Ohio. When one unit in a chain experiences a problem, the entire brand, and sometimes the food category, suffers.
"When you see recalls domestically and abroad, and outbreaks associated with different products, it does tend to chip away at consumer confidence," said Donna Garren, Ph.D., vice president for health and safety regulatory affairs at the National Restaurant Association in Washington, D.C.
As a mouthpiece for the industry, NRA experts not only offer ServSafe food-safety training sessions, but lobby the federal and state governments for regulations that keep pace with the marketplace. "There's always room for improvement," Garren said of her mission. Food safety, in fact, is the NRA's top public policy issue in 2008.
Other big-name agency players are stepping up to the plate. Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt last year proposed a comprehensive overhaul of import and food safety plans, and the CDC, FDA and U.S. Department of Agriculture are doing a good job of lessening the time between reported illness and the investigation to determine the source of contamination. Scientists also are developing microbiology-detection techniques that are more rapid and sensitive.
Restaurants' role
Surviving public reaction to the next food-safety violation headline falls squarely at the feet of individual unit owners and managers. Clark insists a representative from Farmer Boys inspect suppliers to ensure the quality of their operations. He also hired an in-house food-safety manger to conduct periodic inspections at each of his restaurants, but just meeting local code was not enough.
Clark scanned the health department standards in the five-county area of Southern California where Farmer Boys restaurants are located. He then took the toughest health-department standard on any one issue as the company policy to judge itself against.
Garren recommends the inspection of suppliers and she urges individual restaurants to invite the local inspectors in as well, the better to educate each other on food-safety procedures.
"A manager also has to know what questions to ask of his supplier when a priority shipment is coming into the back of the house. It's not just about seeing how nice the tomatoes look or that the lettuce is crisp and green," she said. "You have to ask what the supplier is doing to ensure food safety along the points of the supply chain."
Once the food arrives, good, old-fashioned handling comes into play. There are no silver bullets; it's the same proper storage, washing and avoiding cross-contamination rules restaurant managers have been preaching for years. The breakdown, said Daymark's Palmer, stems from industry's high employee-turnover rates. Yes, the manager may have said it four dozen times in the past month, but when a newer employee is on the line, it needs to be said again.
"Getting the right people in the right spots is a greater challenge now than it probably was 10 years ago," he said. "We are getting a workforce that is not necessarily intuitive about this type of safety."
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Finally, lean on technology to do its part. Time and temperature are two key areas in the FDA's Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point program, but you can't abide by them if you aren't using modern equipment, said Palmer, who testified before a Senate subcommittee on how a Timestrip device could have reduced liability with the spinach recall of a few years ago. A Timestrip device is designed for use in the refrigerator or freezer and consists of a sealed bubble filled with red liquid. Once the bubble is popped, the device records how long a product has been in place.
Mum's the word
But the one thing restaurants can't do is brag about their food-safety efforts.
"Franchises in the fast-casual industry see this as a commitment and they all share in doing the right thing," Garren said. "They compete on quality. But you won't say, ‘Our burger is safer than your burger.' It doesn't do well for the entire industry."
That doesn't mean you can't subtly communicate what the customer most wants to know. Cleanliness, in this case, is next to godliness.
"If you don't have food on the floor, the tables and chairs are clean, the servers are clean, the restrooms are clean, the consumer will say, 'This is a restaurant where I want to eat.' There's an assumption on their part that you adhere to good standards," Clark said.
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