How do you medically screen your food handlers?

Your staff and food handlers can be one of your biggest risks especially when it comes to infectious diseases and food contamination. Watch this episode of HACCP Mentor Review to see the impact this hazard can cause to your food business.

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In this episode

00:00 – Apologies from HACCP Mentor

00:29 – SQF Edition 7.1 released

01:22 – Effective internal audits

01:57 – E Coli 0121 food poisoning outbreak

02:31 – Seafood recall spotlight

03:22 – Medical screening of food handlers

04:02 – Customer complaint review

04:23 – Leave your comments

Welcome

First up I would like to apologise for not getting an episode out last week. I ended up taking the opportunity to go away camping for the Easter break. No computers. No internet. No mobile phone coverage. It was lovely to be just relaxing in the bush with family and friends. Anyway……enough sentiment..…lets get onto this episode of HACCP Mentor.

SQF Edition 7.1 Released

SQF have recently released edition 7.1 of the SQF code which will come into play on 1st July 2013. There have been around 50 changes from the previous version including the provision of hand wash signage to be located in prominent positions, protective clothing to be manufactured from material that is not liable to contaminate food, the definition of “high risk food” to include food deemed high risk by the customer or a food that has caused a major food outbreak and also equipment surfaces to be smooth, impervious and free from cracks or crevices. A copy of the new edition along with a full list of changes can be found on the SQF website or check the episode transcription for a direct link.

Effective internal audits

One of the most powerful and useful things that you can do to prepare for your 3rd party audit is to do an internal audit. I don’t mean one of those tick and flick activities but to actually perform the internal audit in the shoes of an external auditor. If your internal audit (against the entire audit criteria) only takes you 1 hour to complete, do you think that you have adequately covered everything? I doubt that your external audit doesn’t take 1 hour to complete, so your internal audit shouldn’t either.

Food Poisoning Outbreak

An E.Coli outbreak under investigation since the end of 2012 has been updated to now to have affected 27 people (as of April 5 2013) across 15 states in the USA. Different frozen convenience foods manufactured by Rich Products Corporation have tested positive to E Coli 0121. The company have now extended their previous food recall to include all Farm Rich, Market Day and Schwan’s brand frozen food products.  

Food Recalls

Seafood and fish have been under the food recall spotlight in the past week with a couple of different products recalled including:

• Bottled lobster recalled in Canada for possible Clostridium botulinum contamination.
• Smoked Atlantic Salmon products have also been recalled in Canada due to Listeria monocytogenes contamination.
• Smoked Herring and Pickled Herring Fish were found to be uneviscerated with the potential for Clostridium botulinum contamination.
• Undeclared fish allergen as anchovies in clam pies out of Boston USA.

Food Handlers Medical Screening

A report from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene is warning consumers of possible Hepatitis A contamination. A food handler working at Alta Restaurant was tested positive for Hepatitis A resulting in up to 3000 customers possibly exposed. This incidence highlights how your staff can be one of your biggest risks if not managed correctly. Take this opportunity to check your staff illness policy and see how suitable it is. This is also a great scenario that can be tested during a mock crisis event. What is your screening process for illness and infection amongst your staff? Let HACCP Mentor know and leave a comment below this episode.

Action item of the week

For this week’s action item go and check that any issues identified from customer complaints have been assessed in the hazard analysis. By doing this, you can have confidence that you have assessed potential hazards that occur within your food business.

Wrap Up

That wraps up episode 13 of HACCP Mentor Review. Don’t forget you can download the podcast from iTunes if you prefer to keep up-to-date while you are exercising. Also, share how you medically screen your food handlers by leaving a comment below this episode. Until next time, I am Amanda Evans from www.haccpmentor.com