SAF-T-FIRST From Our Friends at SanJamar

Welcome to the Saf-T-First e-newsletter from San Jamar. Saf-T-First has been created to help keep you informed of important food safety information. As the leader in commercial food safety tools, San Jamar is always innovating to address safety issues and needs of foodservice professionals. San Jamar food safety tools are designed to reduce employee and customer injuries and illness, while reducing labor and operating costs.

CA Raises Bar on Food Safety
Foodservice workers hired in California will be carded as of next year. You could call him "The Germ-inator", as California Governor Arnold Swarzenagger recently signed a foodservice safetytraining bill into law. Read more from NRN -California Food Handler Card

It's a Viral World
With the viral nature of the internet and the blogosphere, information is everywhere. And bad news travels fastest. One health code violation, one foodborne illness and a foodservice provider can become thevictim of viral media coverage -- with a reputationirreparably tarnished. The results can be devastating. Read about one example of viral media roadkill from WTMJ online - Egg Recall Expands; Kenosha Restaurant Linked

Food Safety Insights: HACCP & Local Sourcing
byDr. Norm Faiola, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Department of Hospitality Management
Syracuse University

Let us consider some of the food safety challenges produce poses to our internal food safety systems. Using a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) model, we know that there are potential hazards (mostly biological, i.e. pathogenic bacteria and viruses) related to almost all types of produce. The produce we need to process and serve our guests requires procedures that will reduce these potential hazards to an acceptable (safe) level. Sure, an operation can purchase ready-to-eat (RTE) produce which does not need to be rewashed (USDA) but labor still must handle it correctly to maintain safety. Expiration dates need to be carefully monitored and a First in-First out (FiFo) rotation must be maintained. Shelf life and safety are based on strict packer processes (HACCP/GMP's based) in conjunction with in-house strict time-temperature controls and monitoring of package integrity.

Thinking about sustainability and locally sourced produce? Produce purchased not RTE must be carefully processed so as to reduce the potential contamination to a safe level. Safe produce starts at the farm level and we rely on the grower to minimize the risk of hazards associated with produce. Any product that is grown in soil has contamination that is potentially harmful. Your in-house processing must assume the worst case; processing procedures need to carefully planned and monitored. Start with clean and sanitary utensils, sinks and storage containers. Enforce strict personal hygiene. Maintain temperature control by batch processing. Since no heat treatment is part of the processing steps (who wants cooked lettuce?), you are relying on agitation and dilution to reduce the bio-load on the products. If you are adding a chemical or converted water sanitizing step to your process, carefully follow the manufacturers' directions. Remove excess water before storage. Do not store produce in standing water even under refrigeration.

Responsibility for food safety belongs to the operator as they are the final control point for any produce served to guests. Keeping produce safe takes as much work and planning as any meat or poultry product. Let us make sure we consider this and proactively work to serve safe food.

Make Sure Your Produce is "Saf"
Produce is the #1 source of foodborne illness-- even pre-washed/ready-to-eat (RTE) produce can harbor dangerous bacteria. Not only does Saf-T-Wash by San Jamar provide 52% greater pathogen killing power than traditional produce sanitizing methods like chlorine; it harnesses the power of ozone to significantly extend the life of produce, saving money. And Saf-T-Wash is easy to install and use. To learn more about the power of Saf-T-Wash and, click here.

ServSafe Quick Quiz

While commonly associated with ground beef, which microorganism has also been associated with contaminated lettuce?

A. Salmonella spp.
B. Campylobacter jejuni
C. Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli
D. Norovirus

Something to Chew On
PB&M sandwich, anyone...? Imagine the shock when Dad finds mouse baked into bread while making kids' lunches. See photo and read more from The Sun.
*Answer:C Symptoms ofShiga toxin-producing E. coli include diarrhea andabdominal cramps. Severe cases can lead to life-threatening kidney failure known ashemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS).

From our friends at SEFA and Sanjamar

Published by:
Ramona Weisent

REWrite Blog