Misunderstanding of regulations perpetuates poor cleaning Many operators and even regulators continue to use and recommend cleaning restaurant tables and other high-touch surfaces with a reusable rag stored in a bucket of sanitizing solution. This solution is easily degraded and difficult to maintain. It is also a poor cleaner allowing contamination buildups capable of harboring […]
Scheduled Restaurant Inspections
Olmsted County, MN continues to lead the way This email, submitted to Handwashing For Life by Olmsted County’s environmental health manager, Mike Melius, serves as a more meaningful update on Scheduled Inspections than anyone at Handwashing For Life Institute could offer. We have experienced that scheduled assessments (inspections) serve an important purpose in “Establishing an […]
The New Legal Look at Handwashing
“quality controls … to safeguard consumer and employee health.” 2016 is starting out as a potential watershed for hospital, nursing home, and foodservice handwashing. Two high profile Norovirus outbreaks at Chipotle restaurants in 2015 were followed by two legal actions and a 35% drop in Chipotle’s stock price. Controlling Norovirus is highly dependent on good […]
Ultraviolet Cleaning for Large Venue Food Service and Processing
Time saving and improved efficacy are the drivers UV success as a cleaning protocol in hospitals now helps define foodservice and food processing niches for potential applications. Hospital experience has outlined where to use and how often. It is not used everyday and doesn’t eliminate manual cleaning of some areas. The bottomline is that UV […]
Cut the Ribbon. Cut the Risk.
Celebrating the Culture of Caring S.Truett Cathy, founder of the very successful Chick-fil-A chain, had “Hire for Culture” as his #1 criteria in recruiting new employees at all levels. Foodservice operators who hire right have employees who care. This group needs leadership and regular feedback on their performance. A chef’s job is not about being […]
Handwash Poster: CDC’s “Do-It-Yourself Vaccine”
Flu Season Tip World Health Organization’s (WHO) World Health Day reminded us of the importance of all things food safety and public health. World’s apart in development, all countries share in the dangers of the unwashed hand and those seldom-cleaned high-touch surfaces. Through the lens of Handwashing For Life, World Health Day is first and […]
The Farmhand’s Field Handwash
A FSMA Produce Rule solution Research has found that farmhand’s hands are a major factor in contaminating ready-to-eat produce. Conventional thinking about feces-contaminated water and manure fertilizer as the major sources was challenged in a study by Emory University. Their research included a successful field-testing of SaniTwice®, referred to as the “two-step ABHS intervention” (Alcohol-Based Hand Sanitizer.) Responding […]
A Successful Culture Change Doubles Handwashing Rates
Data plus leadership records sustainable gains in handwashing behaviors. Culture change is often cited as a requirement where hand washing rates need to be doubled to reach a safe level. The Atrio Restaurant in Carmel, Indiana, lead by Chef Peter Fulgenzi, took on that task, challenging his staff to accept their professional role in serving […]
Transforming to a Culture of Caring
How to use handwashing as the trigger Culture change. The food safety culture. The culture of cleanliness. The Renaissance impact. Many books have been written and seminars given. Yes, corporate culture for centuries has guided progress on a path of continuous improvement. Culture change is regularly embraced by food and patient safety leaders as a noble and needed solution […]
High-Touch Surface Cleanliness and Biofilm Penetration
Filtering out the marketing fluff around surface disinfectants New surface cleaners stream in for consideration, attempting to change the market or at least carve out a niche. Many times lab data is provided, always finding a test method to make the new look good. This phenomenon is witnessed most frequently for new disinfectants where kill […]
