Each year in the United States, 48 million people get sick, 128,000 are hospitalized and 3,000 die due to foodborne illness, according to Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates.
These numbers were presented by Wade Robinson (pictured left), senior foodservice manager at Binghamton, New York-based Mirabito convenience stores, and Evan Powell (right), retail food protection manager at La Crosse, Wisconsin-based Kwik Trip, during Protecting Consumers and Your Brand With Food Safety Basics at the NACS Show in Las Vegas.
And even though it can take days for someone to show signs of sickness from a foodborne illness, “the last place a person ate gets blamed,” said Robinson, adding that many Americans ate their last meal or a snack at a convenience store.
“Only 14% of consumers are very confident in the way food is prepared at c-stores, according to the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS), Robinson said.
“If we make our customers sick, why would they come back to eat at your store again?” he asked. “It’s all about responsibility to protect our guest and our brand.”
The top five risk factors in food safety are:
- Purchasing food from unsafe sources
- Failing to cook food adequately
- Using contaminated equipment
- Poor personal hygiene
- Holding food at improper temperatures
Powell said, “If you control those top five risk factors, you will mitigate 95% of foodborne-safety risks.”
The other five risk factors are:
- Cooling food improperly
- Failing to rotate product during storage
- Date marking improperly
- Neglecting one’s pest management program
- Thawing food at improper temperatures
“Those out of compliance are expected to correct and get back into compliance,” Robinson said. “It’s important to have a plan.”
Inspection Violations
Meanwhile, the most common health inspection violations are:
- Failure to purchase food from an approved source
- Failure to cook food to the correct internal temperature. “Does the foodservice employee know chicken has to be cooked to 165 degrees? If the chicken is not at 165, cook it longer,” Robinson said.
- Failure to properly wash and sanitize food contact surfaces to reduce disease-causing microorganisms
- Failure to ensure staff have good personal hygiene practice
- Failure to hold food at the correct internal temperature
The foundations of a food safety management system are a trio of items:
- A personal hygiene program
- A food safety training program
- A quality control and assurance program
Diving into personal hygiene, Powell said this includes washing hands, using gloves, wearing an apron, wearing a hair restraint and not working with food when ill.
“Improper hand washing is the most important part,” Powell said. “It’s the No. 1 cause of foodborne illness in U.S.”
The most important times to wash hands are after:
- Using the restroom
- Handling raw product
- Handling garbage
- Handling allergens
- Washing dishes
The five key handwashing items are:
- Hot running water
- Liquid soap
- Disposable towels
- Garbage container
- Handwashing signage
“Have a garbage container near the door,” Powell said, adding that employees are more likely to wash hands if the container is near the door rather than across the room because disposing the paper towel used to dry hands is easier when the container is near the door.
“If it’s that busy, I might just subconsciously skip it, and we don’t want any barriers to that hand washing,” he said.
It’s also important to implement an illness policy that requires coworkers to report symptoms and illness, Powell said, and to ensure all illness reports are documented by a leader in an illness log.
Check with local authorities for what requirements one needs to make sure all safety protocols are being followed, such as washing hands, temperatures being checked, holding times being followed, and routine cleaning and sanitizing is being completed, Robinson said.
In running a food safety training program, “Tell them [employees], then show them how to do something,” Robinson said. “Do you have training manuals? Are you documenting the training? If not, did it even happen if there’s no record of it” and an inspector stops in asking for documentation.
Robinson added that an old boss once told him, “Training is not a one-time event.”
Selecting a Supplier
Choosing a reputable supplier is critical, Robinson said. “Be diligent that we carry out documented checks to ensure that the food supplier is providing safe food.”
Retailers know this by seeing the retailer:
- Demonstrating regulatory compliance
- Having a certification of a quality-assurance program
- Being financially stable
- Being transparent with invoicing
- Shipping products safely; “A freezer product is in a freezer truck, not just in a regular box truck,” Robinson said.
- Providing allergen information
“Purchasing from unsafe sources is a huge risk,” he said. “Farm to table is hot now, but is it safe?”
He added that if a c-store is buying from multiple sources, it’s tough to track if there’s a foodborne-illness outbreak.
“Try to limit the number of suppliers proving the same products to your store,” he said.
Tackling Temperatures
Another critical area in food safety is cooking temperature, and Powell said to have plenty of thermometers on hand for checking temperatures and to verify multiple temperatures from each batch produced.
“Consider training videos in addition to documents and posters,” he added. “There are a lot of visual learners out there.”
Improper holding temperatures are below 136 degrees for hot food and above 40 degrees for cold foods.
“Food that sits out of temperature control for an extended period allows harmful bacteria to multiply quickly,” Powell said. “Have task lists and temperature logs to monitor hot and cold holding of food, and include product and equipment temperatures.”
Paper or digital can be used, he added.
“There’s nothing wrong with a paper log,” Powell said, adding it should be saved for at least six months. “Inspectors like to see them.
“Make sure logs being filled out correctly,” he added.
Cross-Contamination
Turning to cross-contamination and cross contact, Powell noted one danger.
“Cutting raw chicken on a cutting board and then cutting lettuce on same board: the chicken will get cooked, but the lettuce is ready to eat and not being cooked, so that harmful bacteria will remain and get someone very sick,” he said.
To prevent cross-contamination, Powell suggested using color-coded chopping board to eliminate or reduce the risk during food preparation:
In addition, the chopping boards must be cleaned and stored correctly after use.
Also on cross-contact safety is the importance of being aware of The Big 9 allergens: milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybean and, recently added, sesame.
If baking batches of peanut butter cookies, and then sugar cookies, “people wouldn’t expect peanuts in a sugar cookie,” Robinson said. However, if the retailer prepared the two batches of cookies on the same surface, the retailer has created a cross-contact situation and the consumer eating the sugar cookie could have an allergic reaction.
Food storage also is critical, Powell said, saying to store the following types of foods on separate shelves, starting from the top down:
- Fruits, vegetables and ready-to-eat foods
- Fish and seafood
- Raw whole cut red meat
- Raw minced/grounded red meat
- Raw poultry, raw minced/grounded poultry
“Even with limited refrigeration space, you can store food properly,” he said. “Have enough utensils on hand—this reduces cross-contamination.”
Managing Risk – Regulatory Relationships
Turning to risk management and relationships with regulators, Powell said, “The regulations are the bare minimum. It’s in the best interest of your company to have extra steps in place as it can impact you and the whole industry as a food destination.
Benchmark with regulators, similar food companies and the food supply chain for continuous improvement, he continued.
“I would urge you to go out to build trust and transparency with regulators, and you’ll then likely have them on your side in unlikely event something goes wrong with your food safety.”
He added, “You need to have those temperature logs to prove it.”
In corrective and preventive actions, Powell suggested third-party food safety audits, internal audits and corrective action plans for observed violations.
The five ways to be smart about corrective actions are:
- Specific: Is the plan detailed and understandable
- Measurable: Is it easily evaluated
- Action Based: Does it include the desired end results?
- Realistic: Is the expected outcome reasonable?
- Timely: Is the deadline reachable?
“Get buy-in from those working in your stores,” Robinson said. “Make sure they know why you’re doing this.”
Filling out logs related to food safety “is creating a habit,” Robinson said.
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