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YOUR
CUSTOMERS HEALTH AND SAFETY ARE IN YOUR HANDS
It's your job to keep pathogens out of the seafood department
When customers walk down supermarket aisles, they're focused on grabbing what they need and getting home to feed their
families. They are certainly not asking themselves, will I get sick from eating this food?
Consumers trust that the
nation's food handlers and manufacturers are doing everything to protect them from foodborne illnesses. Yet, the Center of
Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP) reports microbial pathogens in food cause an estimated 6.5-33 million cases of human
illness and up to 9,000 deaths in the United States each year. (Agricultural Economics Report No. 741. 100 pp, August 1996
) However, most important to note is that nearly all causes of foodborne illnesses can be prevented.
You can protect
your customers from foodborne illnesses most of the time by understanding the major causes of food poisoning and ensuring
that both the suppliers and your staff following safe handling procedures. An overview of risk areas and the health threats
they pose can help you keep seafood products safe.
THE FOUR BAD BUGS THAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Salmonella
E. coli O157:H7
Calicivirus- Norwalk-like virus
Campylobacter
Definition- foodborne illness is a disease
that is carried or transmitted to human beings by food. Applied Food Service Sanitation, fourth edition, 1992
Bacteria
of an infectious nature are called pathogens, and it is these types of bacteria as listed above that cause illness in food.
If your staff learns more about these common foodborne illnesses, and how to prevent them, your confidence level of providing
safe food for your customers will be high. Food poisoning related complaints could cost your business millions of dollars
per year.
Salmonella-- bacteria mostly found in the intestines of birds. Since most seafood departments are near
or included in the meat department, it is essential that seafood, particularly ready-to-eat, be processed on a table designated
only for seafood. Cross-contamination is the most common cause of salmonella being found in processed seafood. It only takes
a small dripping of poultry juice to come in contact with cooked seafood to create a potential food poisoning situation. In
most instances, salmonella is killed during the cooking step of most seafood dishes; however, in foods where the consumer
will eat that product with no further cooking, the results could most certainly result in illness. Typical symptoms of salmonellosis
include fever, diarrhea and abdominal cramps. In most cases, the illness dissipates in a few days. Persons with poor health
can be placed in serious life-threatening situations. Safe handling and avoiding potential cross-contamination conditions
can prevent salmonella in your seafood.
E. coli O157:H7-- this bacteria is found mostly in cow feces and exists
in the intestines of these animals. It is an extremely dangerous infectious bacterium in that it only takes a few parts per
million of this strain of E. coli (the O157:H7) to cause deadly results in some humans. Again, the most common cause of these
bacteria being found in seafood would be from cross-contamination. Seafood, especially cooked seafood should never be processed
in near proximity of beef, or pork. Typical symptoms of E.coli O157:H7 include: severe and bloody diarrhea and very painful
abdominal cramps, without much fever. In a smaller number of causes, profuse bleeding and kidney failure can occur, usually
resulting in death.
Calicivirus, or Norwalk-like virus this is the most common cause of foodborne illness, yet
the least diagnosed, mainly due to limited laboratory tests available. The bacteria are usually spread from one infectious
person to another. Thus, an infected worker can contaminate a salad or a sandwich simply by sneezing and then touching the
food before washing their hands. According to the CDCP, infected fishermen have contaminated oysters during harvest by touching
the shells. Typical symptoms include acute gastrointestinal illness, vomiting and diarrhea lasting about two days. You can
prevent this foodborne illness by requiring food handlers to wash hands often and use sanitizer hand dips frequently.
Campylobacter- According to the CDCP, this is the most commonly identified diarrhea illness causing bacteria in the
world. The bacteria exist in the intestines of healthy birds. Most raw poultry have Campylobacter on the surface. In this
case, cross-contamination of cooked seafood being exposed to poultry from the meat department will likely result in illness.
It is also important that your seafood supplier avoid purchasing fish from vessels where the product is not properly iced
and covered when on deck to avoid bird droppings. Typical symptoms include fever, diarrhea and abdominal cramps.
An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure
Foodborne illness is preventable and it is your job to make sure that
your customers are safe. If learning about these microbial organisms scares you, makes you uncomfortable knowing about them
and the illnesses they cause¡X then you should be concerned and want to do all you can to prevent them. Keep in mind
that cooking does kill most pathogens. Otherwise, the incidence of foodborne illnesses would be much greater than 33-million-per-year.
It is important to protect ready-to-eat products at all times in the seafood department from cross-contamination. Furthermore,
raw fish needs to be processed in such a way that proper precaution is taken so as not to introduce pathogenic bacteria to
the product from other sources.
Safe food handling is no accident. It is a conscientious willingness to provide safe
food for your customers. Consult a sanitation expert from your local health department for more safe food handling information.
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