This article is meant to alert lodging and food service personnel to the potential impact of infectious diseases, the risk of cross-contamination, and the need for infection-control programs throughout the hospitality industry. An infection-control program is not only a wise policy from the standpoint of avoiding health risks, but can also be an effective marketing strategy for those individual properties or corporations that seize the initiative.

The food service industry has experienced a phenomenal number of disease-related outbreaks. It is nationally recognized that only five to ten percent of food-related illnesses are reported to local environmental agencies and that the real number of illnesses is at least 25 times that reported. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) feels greater efforts should be made to determine the incidences of all diarrheal and food-borne diarrheal disease. In the hospitality industry, the process of eliminating disease-causing organisms is often taken for granted.

(more…)

Filed under: Food Service, Safety, Training by William Griffin
Originally Published: CBM November 1999

Food is big business. According to the National Restaurant Association in Washington DC, there are over 730,000 food service establishments, serving over 50 billion meals and doing 290 billion dollars in business each year. Over nine million people work in the industry, earning over 70 billion dollars annually in wages and benefits.

To protect public health, cleaning duties in food service areas are done according to written procedures and are regulated by federal, state and local laws, with regular inspections required to assure compliance. Food service cleaning is a life and death matter for individuals, families, groups and businesses. (more…)

Filed under: Food Service, Safety by William Griffin
Originally Published: CBM September 1999