by 
Common ground drives budget sharing to defeat Norovirus
Too many times needed food safety research is buried by either a smothering budget or by an agenda to promote an individual position. In April of 2023, Handwashing For Life® joined Ohio State’s Center for Foodborne Illness Research & Prevention in submitting issue I-016 to the FDA’s biennial Conference for Food Protection (CFP). The CFP Hand Hygiene Committee can bring together a powerful group of experienced food safety professionals as it had done twice before. In neither of the previous attempts was the assembly able to reach its goal of defining a handwash.
The new request to re-create this independent group focused on answering two fundamental questions:
1. What is the guideline standard for a Clean Hand?
2. What processes are available to reach that standard?
The issue was accepted but then designated for “No Action” on the basis that the answers to these questions were already covered in The Model Food Code. Authors were told that they would be provided with the specific Code paragraphs by the CFP Board that met on August 24, 2023. That did not happen. An official comment is no longer anticipated.
Data-rich answers to these two questions can motivate operators to galvanize their handwashing regimen choices in protecting their clients, staff and business. Data drives clarity. Clarity drives standards, training, motivating and compliance.
The lack of response from the CFP triggered the approval of a verbal definition of a Clean Hand by 17 interested food safety professionals, many of whom would likely have signed up for the new edition of the Hand Hygiene Committee:
A Clean Hand in the foodservice and food processing industries is one that is unlikely to transfer pathogens from the hand to food, surfaces or directly to other people.
Hand Hygiene Committee
This definition was taken to a university group and an independent lab, seeking a research protocol. A review of available expertise and budgets led to selecting Nelson Labs – Bozeman, who quoted the project at $54,000, swamping any thought of funding by an individual operation. The university estimate was nearly double and would have delayed the study indefinitely while searching for a grant.
But, what if 12 like-minded companies stepped forward as financial Stakeholders, each covering $4,500? What if the authors of the research report could include some of the most experienced minds in the country – all with the single agenda of evidence-based hand hygiene.
This version of crowd funding has opened the door to possibly filling in more of the handwashing holes. It provides added energy and assures that the research is something important to the industry.
The first six Handwashing Heroes, the research Stakeholders, have submitted their payments, enough to launch the study. These unlikely, but trusting, partners include an operator, four innovation-oriented suppliers and Hand Washing For Life®. What is their common ground for funding this initiative?
Chick-fil-A®:
“We should be about more than just selling chicken. We should be a part of our customers’ lives and the communities in which we serve.” S. TRUETT CATHY 1921—2014
Chicago Faucets:
120 years of safely, reliably and creatively delivering water for handwashing, offering various levels of control and touch-free technology.
Eagle Protect:
Unique disposable glove testing and supply chain transparency assures the maximum performance against pathogen cross-contamination.
GOJO:
A family enterprise, protecting public health by helping their clients differentiate their business and grow. GOJO solutions in hand hygiene convert complex skin protecting technologies into simple, user-friendly products.
Handwashing For Life®:
Devoted to advancing the science of hand hygiene with the purpose of reducing the incidence of foodborne illness and nosocomial infections caused by poor hand hygiene.
Diversey:
Pioneers in protecting and caring for people through leading hygiene, infection prevention, and surface cleaning solutions.
