Managing food safety in a restaurant can be a daunting task. Oftentimes it can be such a big job that it doesn’t get done at all. Restaurants can’t afford not to have a food safety plan given the amount of contaminated food delivered each day. At the very least, try to commit 30 minutes at the start of each shift for food safety. If each manager can do this, it will greatly reduce the chance for foodborne illness. If you only have 30 minutes, this is what you should focus on: 1. Check all cold-holding units. Temperature problems are a major source of foodborne illness. Verify the food is at t ..read more

Respro is very excited to announce that we have secured the rights to sell SiteSage, an intelligent energy management system, to our customers in Utah. SiteSage is a comprehensive system produced by Powerhouse Dynamics that monitors and analyzes energy usage and provides diagnostics to monitor appliance performance and health. It identifies where and when power is used and wasted, provides targeted recommendations, and helps restaurant owners lower bills up to 30%. It allows restaurant operators to see in real time where their utility costs are and how to reduce them. In addition to ..read more

Salmonella is one of the most common types of food poisoning. Infection can result in diarrhea, fever and stomach cramps; however, more serious cases can lead to hospitalization, organ failure and even death. As a restaurant inspector, it never ceases to amaze me how cavalier some restaurants are with their food-handling practices. I’ve talked with so many owners who think foodborne illness can never happen to them despite the laundry list of critical violations they racked up on their last inspection. Unfortunately, it takes a foodborne illness outbreak that results in personal injury to the ..read more

To help restaurants through the challenges related to COVID-19, we have created a list of resources. We are committed to keeping you informed and will continue to add to this list. We also invite you to our sister website, MyFoodSafetyNation.com, where we have news articles around the themes of restaurant food safety, training, HACCP, technology, and other resources. How to Prevent Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Your Restaurant Restaurant Coronavirus Exposure Plan COVID-19 Restaurant Survival Guide PDF Overview: Coronavirus Exposure Plan COVID-19 Poster (18×24 inches) to print and ha ..read more

The food storage and processing industry has strict regulations and guidelines to follow when it comes to maintaining a clean facility. One failed inspection can cause the entire food facility to shut down since the slightest indication of contamination of food can breed more thousands of pathogens. Different types of food facilities, like dry-food facilities, liquid-food facilities, food retail, and restaurants, breed different kinds of pests, depending on what sort of food is available for them. For this reason, it is imperative to consult a commercial pest control service that specia ..read more

Last week we launched the Food Safety Nation newsletter for restaurants and were pleased to see so many owners and managers signing up. Each edition will provide up-to-date and relevant articles about restaurant food safety, sustainability, technology and training. Every day restaurants go through worst-case scenarios such as outbreaks, government closures and crippling lawsuits. Each edition of the newsletter will inform subscribers of the necessary information about cases like these in order to learn from them. If you haven’t subscribed yet, you should so you can start learning not only how ..read more

  Sign up below to receive the Food Safety Nation newsletter, and we’ll send you the best links related to the restaurant industry. SUBSCRIBE HERE Brought to you by the creators of Respro Food Safety, Food Safety Nation is a network of restaurant professionals providing and sharing the latest in food safety and sustainability for restaurants. We will be scouring the internet every day to find expert information and important news that all restaurant operators should know. Now more than ever restaurants need to pay attention to their food safety practices and learn from past mistakes to preven ..read more

Foodborne illness and food poisoning is a real problem for restaurants. No owner wants to be responsible for making customers sick. Having one foodborne illness complaint can be very traumatic, but look at what Chipotle dealt with last year—six outbreaks in six months, 500 sick people across 10 states. They went around the horn twice with three of the most common foodborne illnesses: Salmonella, Norovirus, and E. coli. They lost more than $10 billion in stock value alone. Have a Foodborne Illness Response Plan Most small independent restaurants won’t ever have to deal with foodborne illness a ..read more

Today there was yet another restaurant outbreak in the news. Carbon Live Fire Mexican Grill in Chicago is suspected in a Shiga toxin-producing E. coli outbreak affecting at least 25 people. Not only that, on June 29, the City of Boston closed the Thai Dish Restaurant for too many food safety violations. Looking at these two examples of foodborne illness outbreaks, they are independent organizations that most likely won’t survive the financial and liability impact of closures and sick customers. Given the high stakes, how could they put themselves in this position? Local independent restaurant ..read more

  Credit: Health Science Degree The post Is Factory Farming Making People Sick? appeared first on Respro Food Safety Professionals ..read more