by High-touch surfaces retain and multiply deadly risks
16 month old Riley Detwiler never ate an undercooked hamburger from Jack-In-The-Box 25 years ago but his daycare classmate’s mother who worked at JITB and was infected brought the pathogen to her son who in turn contaminated Riley.
This chain of contamination is a reminder that surfaces must be as diligently cleaned as workers’ hands. It also serves to educate restaurant staff of their accountabilities and that a foodborne illness can be much more than a grumbly stomach, especially when serving children, seniors and pregnant women.
Further case details were covered in this article in The New York Times.
Note: Dr. Darin Detwiler, LP.D., M.A.Ed., is now the Assistant Dean at Northeastern University’s College of Professional Studies. He is also a Professor of Food Regulatory Policy, responsible for the development and instruction of courses related to food safety, global economics of food & agriculture, and food policy, for graduate students who work in the food industry.
