When you have vomiting, diarrhea and low grade fever what you have  is called Gastroenteritis.

Yes, the Stomach Flu or Bug is easier to say but it distracts from what the likely cause is.  Foodborne Illness.  Bacteria or Virus found in someones feces made its way into your mouth.  Sounds lovely doesn’t it.

How could you get someones feces in your mouth?

Someone that has the bacteria or virus in their system has bad handwashing skills and then touches a surface or food.  The bacteria or virus can stay on the surface and be picked up by someone else that handles your food.  That is called cross contamination.  Have you ever put your purse, laptop bag or other bag on your counter or table?  An ABC report found purses with extremely high numbers of bacteria on the bottom.  That is only one example of cross contamination.

There are also parasites to be concerned about.

Recently you may have seen the story of Cyclospora outbreak.  Parasites can be found in water so produce is at risk.  Washing your produce even if it has already been washed and bagged or if you will not eat the rind or skin will decrease your risk of parasites and harmful bacteria.

Keeping your family and workplace safe.

Through out any suspect food or reheat to 165 degrees before serving.  The most common diagnosed virus causing foodborne illness in the USA is Norovirus (Commonly called the Stomach Flu).  It has an incubation period of about 18-36 hours so think back to what you ate well before you started feeling ill.  However, Staphylococcal Aureus (The less nasty and commonly referred to stomach bug) has an incubation period of about 30 minutes to 4 hours.    Now that you are feeling the effects of foodborne illness, stay home if you have diarrhea or vomiting. Wash your hands using water and soap and scrubbing for 10 to 15 seconds.  Use a paper towel to dry your hands and turn off faucets.  A simple chlorine solution of 1 1/2 teaspoons of bleach in a gallon of water can be wiped on clean surfaces and allowed to air dry will  kill or reduces pathogens to safe levels.   Don’t forget to keep up good practices.  These harmful bacteria, viruses and parasites can be found in your feces up to two weeks after your better.

If you have any questions about this article or any other food safety questions be sure to ask them on Facebook at Marylandfoodhandler or Twitter @smf_foodsafey

A few of my top food safety tips for keeping your food safe.

Most likely during this extended weekend you will host or be invited to a party.  Here are some simple prevention tips for having a wonderful and food safe holiday:

• If you don’t own a stem thermometer, purchase one.  Most grocery stores carry them for $4-6 dollars.
• Wash hands scrubbing for 15 seconds and do it often. Provide your guests with a hand-washing station. Liquid soap and large drink jug like an ice tea / lemonade container, with a stay-on valve at the bottom filled with water is perfect.
• Produce is commonly linked to E Coli and Salmonella as well as other bacteria. Wash all produce in slightly warmer water than temperature of produce before prepping and cutting.
• Store all cold at 41 degrees or below.
• During service the following foods need special attention since they are perfect for bacterial growth, therefore you should keep on ice and under 70 degrees and no more than 6 hours :
• Cut greens, cut tomatoes and cut melons.
• Salads make with pasta, potatoes and seafood.
• Salsas, add extra lime since bacteria do not like acidic conditions.
• Keep hot food hot. 135 degrees or above.
• Quickly refrigerate foods after service.
• Know your minimum temperatures:
  • Steaks, Pork, Seafood 145 Degrees
  • Ground Beef or Ground Pork 155 Degrees
  • All Poultry 165 Degrees
• Use a scoop or tongs for beverage ice.  Hands should never be used.  It is reported that 30-50% of healthy humans have Staphylococcus aureus in their nose
  .

Although The Community Kitchen is not a traditional restaurant I thought they deserved the first ShoutOut!

The Community Kitchen located at Episcopal Community Services of Maryland in Baltimore, MD prepares men from disadvantage situations for work in the Hospitality industry.

Three Phase Program to training for Food Service.

The three phase program starts with the student learning basic kitchen skills and food safety including completion of the National Restaurant Association Education Foundation ServSafe® program and concludes with an externship at participating restaurants.  The restaurants participating in the externship receive 20 hrs of FREE labor per week. The students receive real work experience at no expense to the business.

Graduated participants are excellent candidates for employment as well.  For information about how your restaurant can participate or hire a graduate from this exciting new program contact Derek Neal at 410-327-0013 office.

If you would like information on how to be featured in a ShoutOut! contact Sue@Marylandfoodhandler.com  or call Sue at 410-382-4325

Sue was inside the kitchen today trying out the new Pillsbury® Key Lime Cookie mix

I don’t know if these are new to you but they sure are to me.  I have been seeing them prominently displayed in every store I have been in.  Not really being a baker of sweets I still had to try.  I mean, who can resist Key Lime anything.  Mix and icing in hand I headed home, turned the on oven, followed the very simple one bowl directions and in under 25 minutes had cookies cooked, cooled and iced.  Not bad.  

Now for the more important test taste… 

If you are needing a very sweet fix these are a must try.  The key lime flavor was not over powering and just perfect but the extra icing on top was a bit much for this gal.  I preferred just the plain cookie which was soft and chewy.

Would definitely try the other varieties from this line!

We are so excited to offer this program.  Please share to anyone you know that deserves the opportunity to become trained.  Baltimore County and Baltimore City both require a certified food safety manager on duty at all times.  Having the ServSafe® Certificate betters your chances of becoming a valued member of  management.   You will also possess the important skills needed to advance.

SMF Training Solutions not only prepares you for the exam but we pride ourselves in teaching you real life skills and knowledge that you can take back to your work place and impress the bosses with!

Our small class sizes are perfect for someone that has been nervous about taking the training before.

Don’t hesitate to apply – It may be you we select for FREE Food Safety Manager Training!

How many Food Safety mistakes can you spot in this short but very real story?

A nice Saturday afternoon and some seafood was in order.   We decided to go to a very popular spot (sorry will not name names)  for lunch.  As we walked in there was a party going on in the restaurant area so we decided to head over to the bar side.   I ordered an iced tea and steamed shrimp.

While waiting on our drinks I noticed a table with a small child.  The server, a middle aged woman, clears some dishes and empty bottles from a table, comes behind the bar and begins making what appears to be a Shirley Temple for the child.  She reaches in and full fists out about 5 cherries and drops them in the drink.  “Oh gross”, I tell my dining companion.  Then I said she should know better but often servers are not trained in the basics of food safety.  I brushed it off since she was not my server and I previously and promptly removed the lemon wedge inserted on the rim of my glass.

As we waited for our food I watched a young man come from the kitchen, enter behind the bar wearing a dirty apron, walk to the soda fountain and WHAT!  There it was,  he shoved the fountain nozzle into his water bottle for a refill.  I stared, gasped and commented to my friend to look.  Yes, the young man heard me as he turned to look.  With the nozzle shoved tightly into the hole where a few minutes ago he had his mouth wrapped around it  transferring saliva, he seems unfazed by what I was seeing.

My steamed shrimp came out piping how and I peeled and ate, convincing myself that I am most likely safe from the possible mayhem of what I can’t see in the kitchen.  It appears there seems to be major  lack of training on managements part.  The food handler and server did not seem to even hide what they did.  That shows lack of understanding how much they are putting the public at risk.

Lets review some the food safety mistakes:

• Server reaches into and handles RTE food.
• Server did not wash hands after clearing  table.
• Food Handler is apparently allowed to drink from a water bottle in the kitchen area.
• The food handler exited the kitchen wearing apron.
• Apron was dirty.
• Food Handler thinks nothing of shoving the common use nozzle into a container he just had in his mouth.

Lets just say I am glad I ordered the tea and a food they most likely did not touch after cooking.  I will not be back again.  If I can spot this many critical errors from the bar area, imagine what is going on in that kitchen.

Are you a  recent Graduate that is looking for a summer job but can’t seem to find one even in the busy restaurant / hospitality trade?

SMF Training Solutions wants to improve your chances of being hired and being retained after the summer is over.  Get your application recognized by attaching a copy of your Nationally recognized ServSafe ® Food Safety Manager Certificate.  SMF Training believes your chances of being hired are going to be greatly increased.   No previous food service experience is required to take the class.

• Sign up for the June 4 & 5 ServSafe ® Food Safety Manager training in Parkville, MD.
• Tell us what school you just graduated from in the comments section of registration form.
• Use discount code “RecentGrad” and receive $20 off your training.  This is the biggest discount we have ever offered!
• Take a 90 multiple choice exam the second day of training.  A 75% or better is a passing score.
• Take the online exam and you could have your certificate as early as June 11th.  Paper exams take about 3 weeks.

While the certificate does not guarantee you a management position or employment it will increase your value as a potential employee.  Howard, Prince Georges, Montgomery,  Baltimore County and Baltimore City all require one FSM on duty at all times.  More importantly  it demonstrates to the employer that you taken initiative to become a valued member of their team and will require less hands on training.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact Sue at 410-382-4325

I start each class with a review of  some CDC statistics.  Is it part of the ServSafe curriculum? No. Why do I do it?  One simple answer, I want my students to understand how easy it is to have a positive impact on the safety of the food they are serving and why personal hygiene is so important.

I am glad to see news media reporting on the recent story from the CDC discussing Norovirus.  According to the CDC, Norovirus outbreaks are more prevalent between November and April.  They have also recently discovered a new strain in Australia however they do not know what impact this new strain will have on outbreaks in the US.  Informing the public that the “stomach flu” is really Gastroenteritis, most often from food, is the big take away here.  

Protect others:

Here is what I tell my students.  According to the 2011 CDC estimates for domestically acquired foodborne illness, 58% of reported and identified cases are Norovirus.  What is the easiest way to prevent the spread of a virus, I ask? Through proper personal hygiene, especially, hand washing.  Only a small amount of Norovirus can make someone ill.  Heat treating food will kill the virus.  That is why we should avoid bare and gloved hand contact with food that will be consumed without further cooking.  Wait, did I say gloved hand contact as well.  Yes is did!  Imagine this: I go to the bathroom, don’t wash my hands. I enter the kitchen and stick my hand in the box of gloves.  I have now potentially contaminated the entire box with feces.  Did I mention last week I had “the stomach flu”, a hum, possibly Norovirus.  Confess: How many times have you seen someone not use gloves for a single use.  In my opinion they are the most abused tool in the kitchen.  But we will save a discussion on gloves for another post.  

Protect yourself:

You go out to eat with friends.  They recommend the spot.  You walk in and see some tell tale signs that the establishment may not be as clean as you hoped.  You don’t want to say anything to your friends so you look at the menu and wonder, what would be the safest thing to order?  A salad? The soup? Fried Shrimp basket?

What do you think?  My vote is all for the fried food.  Now is not the time to be concerned about the waistline.  Foodhandlers are less likely to touch hot fried food with hands.

Also, please do not ever get fruit in your drink.  If you ever worked hospitality you know that the lemons and limes are often cut in less than desirable conditions.

Employers:

Train your staff.  The cost of training well outweighs the cost of customers that you may lose when they see staff using poor practices.

Can you take the online course and receive certification?

Yes, you can. But…

I received a phone call today from someone stating they only need to take the exam.  “That is fine, I can proctor your ServSafe® exam”,  I said.  Then I asked, “What jurisdiction are you planning on working and will you be needing your county card?”  His answer was Baltimore County and “Yes” I will be getting my card. After informing him that since he is not taking classroom training I can not issue a training hours letter needed by all the local counties requiring a food safety manager on duty.  This means that he will need to pay for the class again.  He could have received his certificate but without the training hours letter he would not have been able to receive his card.

There are many websites that offer online courses.  Unfortunately many do not openly tell you that you should check to make sure if online food safety manager training is approved.  If you are planning on using your ServSafe certificate in Baltimore County or City, Prince Georges, Howard or Montgomery counties you will need to take classroom training from an inter-jurisdictionally approved instructor.   All other locations can take an online course but you still need to take the exam using a ServSafe® approved proctor.

Can you take the online Exam?

Yes, the online exam is a proctored exam and is accepted in all Maryland jurisdictions.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact Sue at 410-382-4325.  If you need training please visit our website here for schedule.