Foodborne Illness Can Be Risky Business - How Safe Are Your Favorite Restaurants?

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Tips for Avoiding Foodborne Illness
When it comes to food safety, all restaurants are NOT created equal. When we choose to eat out, we essentially place our faith (and our health) in the hands of complete strangers – restaurant owners/operators. We tend to assume, because they are licensed, that they will handle our food as professionals, however, that is not always the case. There are danger signs that savvy consumers can see, if only they will just pay attention. To avoid foodborne diseases, avoid restaurants and food operations that:

1. Advertise large numbers of buffet items
All hot food items on a buffet must be held at 135° F or higher and all cold food items must be held at 41° F. or below. Therefore, to help insure food safety, food temperatures need to be monitored at least every 2 to 4 hours. The more items on a buffet, the greater the chance that the tedious task of checking temperatures is not done to the letter of the law, thus increasing the chance for time-temperature abuse and foodborne illness to occur.

2. Have extensive menus but not many customers
Extensive menus usually require significant inventories of food items. With few customers, there is probably a very low turnover of menu items and a greater potential for foodborne illness.

3. Have dirty entry and dining areas (including doors and windows)
Think about it. If the “front of the house” is dirty, one can only imagine what the “back of the house” (where food is cooked) is like.

4. Have dirty public restrooms
This is often a true indicator of the cleanliness of the overall restaurant. If the public restrooms are filthy, there is usually a good chance that the kitchen is dirty also.

5. Have poorly groomed/uniformed employees
The monitoring of personal hygiene of restaurant employees is the direct responsibility of management. If employees are poorly groomed with dirty hands/nails and wrinkled/soiled uniforms, it is great cause for concern because there is a very good chance that the food is unsafe.

6. Appear frequently on the Riverside County’s Department of Environment Health Restaurant Downgrade Report at:
http://www.rivcoeh.org/opencms/rivcoeh/ProgServices/Food_Program/Downgrades.html

Although it’s not desirable for any restaurant to be downgraded from an “A” to a “B”, it can and does happen occasionally – even to the more expensive restaurants. Usually, however, any violations are corrected almost immediately when the Department of Environmental Health makes a return visit in one or two days to inspect and reinstate the “A” rating. There are some restaurants, however, that seem to frequent the downgrade list and may even receive a “C” grade, or be ordered to close temporarily or indefinitely. Consumers should monitor the Department of Environmental Heath’s downgrade list and avoid restaurants that are frequently downgraded.

How to Report a Foodborne Illness
Hopefully, this article has provided useful information on foodborne illness and how to avoid it. But what can individuals do if they believe they may have contracted a foodborne illness from a restaurant or other food provider?

Individuals should seek medical attention immediately, discuss with the doctor or other medical professional why you believe that you may have contracted a foodborne illness, and request the appropriate lab test(s) to determine a diagnosis.

Next, contact the Riverside County Department of Environmental Health by calling one of the area offices or submitting the online form. The Department of Environmental Health looks for evidence of what is called an “outbreak” (two or more individuals from different families who become ill from a common source of food contamination). So even if an individual does not become seriously ill, they should contact Environmental Health because other individuals may have become ill from the same source and called the Environmental Health Office to report it. It should be noted that the department is excellent at following up on all calls and complaints.

About the Author: Patricia El Sharei is certified by the National Restaurant Association as a food safety instructor and as of 2009, has trained and certified over 2,000 restaurant managers throughout Southern California.

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