Workshop to raise handwashing standards to match menu risks Recent Norovirus driven legal issues have operators reassessing their standards and reviewing their Outbreak Readiness Plans. Ill employee exclusion is important but its frequent symptom-free profile raises handwashing to the primary intervention. Handwashing For Life’s research stretches from the watershed event of the early 1990s, the […]
Kick the Sanitizer Bucket
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
High-Touch Surface Cleanliness
A focus on non-food-contact surfaces High-touch surfaces are often an enemy of wellness. Colds, flu and norovirus are among the most common pathogens acquired by unsuspecting staff and their guests. These contaminated surfaces are a major driver in staff absenteeism as well as other negative outcomes from a casual touch and transfer. Recurring situations drive […]
A Perfect Stormy Virus Season
Norovirus, H3N2 Flu, Colds, Enterovirus 68 and Ebola … Norovirus rates are picking up in a variety of environments as the winter deepens, but this year, it shares the stage with H3N2 flu, Ebola and Enterovirus 68. These four, along with the common cold, are spread everywhere folks gather, calling for added away-from-home hand and […]
Handwash Methodology
Situations drive operator choices “Over here, Ray debones raw chicken. Later in the shift, he works at the counter.” Handwash protocols in foodservice are dictated by the situation. Situations are defined and grouped by the operator and training begins. This sequence hardly ever happens. Why? It credits the operator with caring, knowing the risks of […]
Rub In but Rub Out the 70% Alcohol Myths
Hand sanitizers are often selected by label kill-claims and alcohol level. Those numbers conceal compelling, decision-making scientific facts, verified by some of our leading universities. First, there is the common misstatement claiming that alcohol hand sanitizers are ineffective on norovirus, one of the leading causes of outbreaks and deaths in nursing homes. A properly formulated […]
Foodservice for the At-Risk
Placing Barriers in the Pathogen Pathways Three meals per day for the most vulnerable demands knowledge, process and caregiver commitment. In acute care, vulnerabilities are obvious as they are in long-term care, with the population dominated by the over 65 age group. Norovirus is a potent enemy of those already at risk due to their […]
