Vaccination of the foodservice workforce eliminates only 1% of foodborne illness but an estimated 15% of legal cases. The payback of the vaccination program is not only in avoiding litigation when an outbreak occurs but also in the costs of the gamma globulin shots for the exposed customer base. Clark County, Las Vegas, continues expanding […]
Nailbrush: Food Safety’s Friend or Foe?
Fecal-hand-oral is the most frequent pathway for the #1 cause of foodborne illness – norovirus. We also know that the nail area is frequently missed when handwashing. The use of a nailbrush dramatically enhances contaminant removal during handwashing. One common execution in the well-intending professional kitchen is to tether a nailbrush and store it in […]
Does installing auxiliary No-water Handwashing Stations make sense for some locations?
In this practice an alcohol based hand sanitizer dispenser is installed alongside a paper towel dispenser and a waste container. The sanitizer is generously dispensed and rubbed vigorously in a pattern set out in Handwashing For Life’s Core Handwash and demonstrated in the Why/When/How video. While still wet, vigorously dry the hands with a single-use […]
Does the use of a Food Code compliant alcohol hand sanitizer replace a handwash or a non-handwash?
Handwashing with soap and warm water is always the preferred choice but handwashing is often restricted by the food worker’s access to running water. This is particularly true where Ready-To-Eat foods are served at drive-up windows, on street corners, at sporting events, in airport hallways and at outdoor seating venues. The use of these sanitizers […]
Encroaching Competition
Management priorities are again evident as beverage dispensing overtakes handwashing convenience.
How to keep foodservice surfaces hygienic. Cleaner surfaces result in cleaner hands.
Surface cleaning and sanitizing are high frequency tasks in professional kitchens and service areas. The costs of these tasks are normally high in training, employee time and chemical consumption. When soils are heavy it is a two step process. When soils are light, electrochemically activated water dispensed from a spray bottle is a Best Practice […]
Terminal Food #1
This busy restaurant at Chicago’s O’Hare Terminal presents quite a few hurdles for potential handwashers among the food handling staff.
Hotel Breakfast Service
This hotel in California, part of a national chain, offers a custom breakfast served from this atrium bar. Working around the beer taps, the busy staff keeps a supply of food nearby – on the handsink, just below the health department’s neatly framed certificate.
“Double Blocked” – a Repeat Offender
This Handsink From Hell, previously labeled as Double Blocked, was originally found in this condition.Obviously it is regularly used as temporary storage, rendering this critical handsink unuseable during many hours of operation. When this restaurant was first designed there may not have been a lock on the adjacent cold storage area. The lock may contribute […]
Distant Drying
Although this handsink is crowded by income producing beverage dispensers, its bigger problem is the location of the paper towels. Wet dripping hands pass over a variety of food contact surfaces including clean glassware.
