QSR Web: How Restaurants Can Eliminate Foodborne Illnesses

When it comes to safety in food service, a lot of attention seems to go to meat products and their cleanliness, age and source. This is important, but the fact is that when it comes to foodborne illnesses attributed to restaurants, half of the items on the top 10 list are not meats — they are fruits and vegetables. In fact, neither chicken nor beef is listed in the top 10 sources of trouble, according to FDA data.

So, it pays for every restaurateur to pay attention to how fruits and vegetables are handled, cleaned and stored because this can mean the difference between a brand-crushing foodborne illness incident and happy, healthy customers. Or, to quote Betsy Craig, a food safety blogger, menu labeling expert and CEO of MenuTrinfo LLC, "the difference between making headlines for a great brand or great food, and making headlines for a great tragedy."

Experts in the area of food cleanliness and preservation say there are no set standards as to how produce, or for that matter, any food item is cleaned, stored or even preserved at the restaurant level. This leaves just about every restaurant doing something a little different when it comes to washing and preparing produce for presentation to customers, according to Mareya Ibrahim, founder of Grow Green Industries.

"In most food service operations, you will find only water being used, if that," she said in an interview with QSRWeb.com. "You may also find chlorine or peracetic acid being used, but these are not without risk to worker safety, equipment corrosion and customer issues related to wheezing, shortness of breath, etc."