Foodborne illnesses are preventable, here is how:

This year, Chipotle has had multiple foodborne illness outbreaks, sickening consumers in nine different states. The chain, whose slogan is “food with integrity,” has strong food safety procedures in place, and their corporate office carefully researches their suppliers. This shows that foodborne illness can happen to any foodservice business, at any time.

After a foodborne illness incident it takes time for companies to recover, and they must work long and hard to regain their reputation and their customers’ trust. It is much easier to prevent food poisoning from happening in the first place. Foodborne illnesses are preventable, so prevent them from happening in your establishment.

Following are tips on how to avoid causing foodborne illnesses from Food Safety Training Solutions Inc.

• Purchase from approved reputable suppliers.
• Require your suppliers to have HACCP (Hazzard Analysis and Critical Control Point) plans. Obtain copies of their documentation for your records.
• Require all management personnel to obtain a Food Manager’s Certification.
• Make certain that everyone on your staff washes their hands appropriately, with soap and hot water, using single-use towels to dry them.
• Keep hot food hot and cold food cold or don’t keep it.
• Ensure that food thermometers are easily accessible and used regularly to monitor the temperature of food.
• Calibrate food thermometers daily, at a minimum, or, ideally, once a shift, when they are new, and if they’re dropped.
• Take the temperatures of products upon delivery. If food products are unsafe when they arrive, there is nothing you can do to make them safe later.
• TRAIN YOUR STAFF. When you have well-trained staff, there’s a much higher chance that they’ll properly prepare the food, making your establishment safer and more profitable.  This will also lower your risks for liability, a ruined reputation and other negative fall-out from a foodborne illness incident.
• Ensure that food handlers diagnosed with Norovirus do NOT work in an operation while they’re sick. The FDA has identified Norovirus as being highly contagious. The virus can cause severe illness such as projectile vomiting and explosive diarrhea. Norovirus can be spread by infected persons, contaminated food or water, or by touching contaminated surfaces. The best way to prevent Norovirus is to practice proper hand washing and general cleanliness.