Foodborne Illness Outbreaks in Florida Restaurants Drop 90% Since 1997!

Click to view largerIn August 1995, a major salmonella outbreak occurred at a restaurant in West Palm Beach, Florida. Over the course of a weekend, more than 300 people became ill. This one event proved to be both the final chapter for the restaurant and a major wake up call for food safety in Florida. In the aftermath of this outbreak, the Department of Business and Professional Regulation’s Division of Hotels and Restaurants began to re-evaluate what it was doing and how it was being done. After looking at its mission and checking its focus, the Division decided change was needed.

As a result of systematic improvements by the Division and restaurants statewide, the number of reported foodborne illness outbreaks in Florida’s restaurants has decreased by 90 percent since 1997. This is a phenomenal number when you consider that there are currently more than 47,000 public food service establishments in Florida, running the gamut from hot dog vendors to high-end restaurants and all points in between. These restaurants feed not only the year-round residents but also the 80 million plus tourists who visit Florida each year.

So, what are the reasons for this remarkable reduction in foodborne outbreaks? Starting in 1997, Florida mandated Food Service Employee Training. This was not job-specific training, but rather a requirement that all employees who handle food receive training in good personal hygiene and foodborne disease prevention.

In addition to the employee training, the 1997 Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Food Code was adopted in mid 1998. With this version of the Food Code, emphasis began on the need to eliminate bare-hand contact with ready-to-eat food as much as possible and to install extra precautions when it did occur.

In 2000, the Division adopted the 1999 Food Code and followed that with the adoption of the 2001 Food Code in 2005. This year, the 2009 Food Code will become the new standard for the Division. Each subsequent Food Code has added important new science-based safeguards and expanded the duties and responsibilities of management – all improvements that help control the incidence of foodborne illness.

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Labortory Testing Continues to Confirm Florida Seafood is Safe

by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (DACS) is responsible for testing seafood harvested from the Gulf of Mexico to ensure it is safe to eat. Laboratory testing shows that Florida seafood products are plentiful, safe and have not been affected by the oil spill.

Between August 2010 and June 18, 2012, the Department’s Division of Food Safety has screened 1854 seafood samples, including 1010 finfish, 171 shrimp, 312 oysters, 164 crabs, 167 clams and 30 lobsters for possible oil contamination from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Except for finfish (at least 1.0 lb fillet), samples represent a composite of multiple organisms (10 crabs, 15 oysters, 0.5 lbs shrimp). All findings are well below the FDA’s levels of concern. See Table 1.

With $10 million in additional funding, the DACS Division of Food Safety has enhanced its laboratory capabilities to conduct seafood inspections in an effort to further restore public confidence in the safety of Gulf of Mexico seafood. In addition to PAH analyses, samples have been screened for the dispersant dioctylsulfosuccinate (DOSS) since March, 2011. All findings for dispersant are also well below the FDA’s levels of concern.

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Fresh Produce Food Safety: 2012 Update

In almost every food service establishment across the state of Florida, fresh produce is a cornerstone of the menu. These delicious and nutritious additions appear in everything from salads, to condiments, drink garnishes, and even entrees. Florida’s agricultural bounty is virtually limitless. In fact, some of our customers eat nothing but vegetables and produce. What could be more healthful than generous servings of fresh Florida produce? Floridians eat fresh produce every day both at home and when dining out of the home and have grown to expect high-quality and safe-to-eat fresh produce from Florida’s food service establishments. Along with this healthful trend, though, comes some additional responsibility for food safety.
In years past, foodborne illness was primarily associated with protein foods and a few exceptions. Slowly, beans, garlic in oil, sprouts and sautéed onions were added to the list of potentially hazardous foods / temperature control for safety foods. Later, cantaloupe, raspberries, mamey and green onions were culprits in foodborne illness outbreaks as well. Now, leafy greens, tomatoes, cut melon, basil and watercress have joined the list of foods requiring temperature control for safety.

What is behind this expanding need for caution? Three primary reasons have emerged: 1) to deliver year-round fresh produce and in many cases, out-of-season varieties; a global marketplace and supply chain now prevails. More fresh fruits and vegetables are being imported from around the world, frequently from areas with food safety standards substantially weaker than those in the US. 2) Additionally, according to a recent LA Times article, consumer demand for fresh produce has dramatically increased, with produce featured at more meals and in greater quantities than ever before. “The industry’s very success could be one of the reasons behind recent outbreaks. People are eating more fresh produce, including the bagged variety, than ever before.” 3) Lastly, centralized processing of fresh and fresh-cut produce may be another important reason behind widespread foodborne illness outbreaks – when something goes wrong at a high volume processor, it can affect exponentially more people than ever before.

Recently, the American fresh produce industry has experienced widely publicized foodborne illness outbreaks associated with American-grown produce. During the early fall in 2011, 146 people were sickened and 30 deaths were attributed to a Listeria monocytogenes outbreak that was associated with cantaloupe grown in Colorado. In September 2006, 3 people died (and other deaths are being investigated) and hundreds were sickened from E. coli 0157:H7 tainted spinach traced to a California grower. Late in 2006, another E coli outbreak occurred, sickening 71 customers and temporarily closing 90 restaurants. Lettuce grown in California was implicated in this outbreak; the contamination occurring most likely during the growing process.

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High-Risk Foods: Sprouts, Raw or Rare Protein Foods, Reduced-Oxygen Packaging and Active Managerial Control

As a restaurant owner, manager or person-in-charge, it is an obligation of business to serve safe food to customers. Awareness of and adherence to food safety requirements is the responsibility of all food service management and employees. Why then offer foods that have a long-time association with foodborne illness?

Many foods provide an excellent environment for the growth or transmission of foodborne illness. Most of these foods, with correct time and temperature control, correct handling, cooking, cooling and reheating methods, can be safely served to patrons. Still, there are those foods that don’t stand up to food safety even after correct handling, cooking and service. These are high-risk foods.

In an earlier edition of Florida Restaurant and Lodging Magazine, you read about raw milk and raw milk products as a high-risk food. This article will focus on other high-risk foods: sprouts, raw protein, ie: sushi, steak tartare, raw eggs and foods in reduced-oxygen packaging.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) notes Five Risk Factors to Food:
1. Food from unsafe sources
2. Inadequate cooking
3. Improper holding temperatures
4. Contaminated equipment
5. Poor personal hygiene

Managers that want to reduce the risk posed to customers are certain to make every effort to steer clear of these risk factors and comply with recommendations to eliminate unsafe risk factors.

Unfortunately, in many cases, high-risk foods are of their nature from unsafe sources and serving high-risk foods exposes your operation to one of the risk factors scientifically identified by the FDA.

Over the last several years, raw sprouts have been associated with foodborne illness outbreaks of several of the major pathogens: Salmonella, E. coli, and Listeria monocytogenes. Europe’s massive outbreak in 2011 was due to contamination from within Egyptian fenugreek seeds and sprouts from those seeds. There were at least 4075 outbreak related cases and 50 deaths.* (*Source: http://outbreakdatabase.com/details/international-outbreak-fenugreek-sprouts-2011/?vehicle=sprouts)

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Lionfish - Toxic?

By Susie McKinley

In recent years, the beautiful lionfish, native to the Indian and Pacific Oceans, has been identified as an invasive species in and around Florida’s coastal waterways, the Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. Originally brought to the United States as an aquarium species, lionfish were likely released into the wild and are now populating waters surrounding Florida at an alarming rate because the fish has no known predators in the region. Lionfish are poisonous to both fish and man.

In an effort to reduce the lionfish’s impact on the environment, several activities have been encouraged and / or undertaken to assist in reducing the population -- one of which is to eat the invasive species. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has even developed an eat lionfish campaign “If we can’t beat them, let’s eat them!”

However, lionfish have recently been associated with Ciguatera, a seafood toxin that has dramatic symptoms for humans who’ve consumed fish contaminated with the toxin, including a reversal of hot and cold sensations. Early symptoms include nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, etc. and other symptoms can include tingling of the extremities and mouth. Ciguatera is typically associated with grouper, snapper and other large reef fish.

NOAA is now recommending to lionfish harvesters to avoid eating lionfish found in waters associated with Ciguatera fish poisoning. According to the World Health Organization (WHO),”Outbreaks of ciguatera are limited in distribution and time and are usually localized.” If your establishment chooses to serve lionfish, be certain that it was not harvested from waters associated with Ciguatera. Local fishermen may be the best source to determine waters that are free from the toxin.