Understanding how to handle an illness outbreak

For Week 2 of National Food Safety Month, our ServSafe food safety experts explore how foodborne illness outbreaks might occur in real life scenarios.

But there’s another piece of the puzzle missing: what happens to restaurants after an outbreak occurs? Is it possible to bounce back from an outbreak and if so, what steps do foodservice professionals need to take to regain trust?  

The takeaways
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate nearly 48 million Americans, or 1 in 6 people, get sick from contaminated foods every year. 

When restaurant operators and their employees understand how foodborne illnesses occur, they have a better idea of what to look for and what to do to mitigate the risks. 

Examining past examples of outbreaks can help determine how to limit your operation’s exposure to germs and the behaviors that spread them. Real-world scenarios can also convey the dos and don’ts when responding to an outbreak should it occur. Key points:

• Finding out your restaurant might have contributed to a potential outbreak is scary, but how you respond to an incident will greatly impact your restaurant’s recovery.
• The cause of an outbreak is not always clear, but having a comprehensive action plan is crucial to a restaurant’s recovery. 
• It might be wise to voluntarily close your restaurant for a few days to focus on deep cleaning and disinfecting to eliminate the potential cause of an outbreak before anyone else gets sick.
• It’s imperative to train and retrain your employees so they prioritize food safety in everything they do.

Don’t leave just yet
Once you’ve accessed NFSM Week 2 here, download the eBook, “What Happens When Foodborne Illnesses Become Outbreaks: Behind the Scenes of Managing an Outbreak". Then return for NFSM Week 3, when our experts offer tips and a downloadable prevention poster to help prevent outbreaks at your restaurant. 

Learn more about National Food Safety Month at foodsafetyfocus.com