How to Respond to a Food Safety Emergency

There are many things that can go awry when a food service establishment is full of people -- from a fire or other emergency situation to a food poisoning outbreak. In the case of a fire or emergency situation that requires evacuation of the building, the event will be immediately evident. But food poisoning can sometimes take days to manifest itself. And even that timeline depends on those who are affected to realize that their illness is caused by food and to trace it back to your restaurant.

Are you and your staff prepared to deal with such an emergency situation at your restaurant? Perhaps even more importantly from a reputation and goodwill standpoint, have you developed a plan to deal with a foodborne illness outbreak originating from your restaurant? Any thorough analysis of how to respond to an emergency situation must also contemplate steps you should take to avoid such an emergency in the first place. This article will address measures you should take to reduce the chances of a food poisoning and some thoughts on how best to respond should an emergency strike.

Foodborne Illness Outbreak

Google "food poisoning" and stories of foodborne illness outbreaks will appear on your screen with lightning speed. Your restaurant's reputation can be damaged almost as quickly if one is traced back to you. Many years ago, a food poisoning outbreak, while still negative, was not devastating to a restaurant. Today, however, with mass media coverage of foodborne illness outbreaks and an opportunistic plaintiff's law firm just waiting to pick up the case, a single food poisoning incident can be difficult to recover from, both from a public relations standpoint and financially.

. . . your employees can be invaluable mouthpieces for your restaurant in case of an outbreak. They are the people with whom your patrons are most likely to interact and should be trained to respond to inquiries from guests. It is usually advisable to have a manager answer guest questions about an outbreak. In the days immediately following a major food poisoning event, however, managers will be stretched thin, so your staff should know how to respond to customer questions.

Food poisoning outbreaks vary greatly in terms of their magnitude and the media attention given to them. In cases like the recent E. coli infection that spread across the nation due to tainted spinach, it is difficult to find anyone who isn't aware of it. In less well-known situations, food poisoning from your restaurant may get almost no attention beyond the few patrons who fall ill from eating spoiled food. Whatever the size of the outbreak, it is helpful to know how to respond.

Food poisoning presents unique response challenges to restaurant owners. Many patrons will not even know they have been infected with a foodborne illness until after they have left your restaurant. Many are unlikely to trace the illness back to your restaurant. In fact, a recent Scripps Howard News Service study found that records from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention over a five-year period showed 64 percent of reported foodborne illnesses were of unknown origin.

Many types of food poisoning do not present symptoms for more than a day after the food has been ingested. Couple this late presentation of symptoms with the numerous types of foodborne illness, and the challenge of how best to respond to such an event becomes evident. Food poisoning can have a devastating effect on your restaurant's reputation that can last long after the last sick guest recovers.

Measures of Safety

If food poisoning does strike, responding quickly and effectively is critical. There are several measures a restaurant should have in place to respond to a food poisoning event.

Develop a plan and stick to it. While it is impossible to know exactly how food poisoning might manifest itself at your restaurant, it is important to have a "Food Poisoning Contingency Plan" in place and to make sure all employees are appropriately involved, from managers, to servers, to the back of the house. (See "A Food Safety Emergency Contingency Plan: Some Points to Consider" below.)

No matter the size of your restaurant, your plan should be written and should be a part of management training. As with most policies, it is not enough to tell employees once and assume they will remember. You should remind your employees frequently of the plan. It is also a good idea to include some mechanism to ensure that trainees have learned the plan, such as a comprehensive test before allowing them to begin work.

No matter the size of your restaurant, your plan should be written and should be a part of management training. As with most policies, it is not enough to tell employees once and assume they will remember. You should remind your employees frequently of the plan. It is also a good idea to include some mechanism to ensure that trainees have learned the plan, such as a comprehensive test before allowing them to begin work.