The Conference for Food Protection (CFP)

The Conference for Food Protection Biennial Meeting will be held at The Omni San Antonio Hotel at the Colonnade, San Antonio, TX on April 11-16, 2008.  Registration is now open for regulators, industry members, academics and consumers.

The Conference for Food Protection has a place for you to serve, bringing ideas to the table to help identify problems, formulate recommendations, and develop practices that promote food safety and consumer protection. CFP committees can benefit from your knowledge and experience as they tackle the many food safety and security concerns that face us all.

There are several ways to become part of this important partnership. First, you can submit an Issue about improving food safety using the online Issue Form (www.foodprotect.org) by the deadline of January 13, 2008.  Each submitted Issue will be deliberated at the meeting by one of three Councils that will provide a unique balanced consideration of yours and the other Issues before it. Approved Conference recommendations may be incorporated into the FDA Model Food Code and offered for adoption by regulatory agencies to help establish nationwide uniformity.

Secondly, you can attend the upcoming Conference meeting in San Antonio.  The Registration Form and the Conference Agenda are available online at www.foodprotect.org. Also there will be a pre-conference workshop titled "What is the Future of Global Fresh Produce Safety for Retail and Foodservice?" on April 12.

In between the biennial Conferences, much work continues in the various Conference committees that are tasked with charges by the Conference. You can review the work of many committees and find the areas of interest where you would like to participate.  The future of food safety and food security can be enhanced with your involvement in this national forum.

Chemstar is proud once again to be a Titanium-level sponsor of the Conference for Food Protection for 2008.

Look for Chemstar at the following upcoming food safety events!

• CIES - February 13-18, 2008 Amsterdam
• Conference for Food Protection - April 11-16 , 2008 San Antonio, TX
• Florida Association for Food Protection - May 13-15, 2008 St. Petersburg, FL
• AFDO - June 7-11, 2008 Anaheim, CA
• NEHA - June 22-25, 2008 Tuscon, AZ
• IAFP - August 3-6, 2008 Colombus, OH
  

Questions & Answers about Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)


MRSA, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, has been talked about in the news recently, being called a "superbug".  Here are some commonly asked questions that will help relate MRSA facts to the retail food industry.

How is MRSA different from the familiar "staph" germ?
Staphylococcus aureus or "staph" is a common bacteria found on the skin and in the environment.  It usually causes no problem in healthy people.  But MRSA is a strain of staph that has become resistant to a powerful antibiotic used to treat staph infections, and that treatment of choice is no longer very effective.

What type of infections does MRSA cause?
In the community most MRSA infections are skin infections that may appear as pustules or boils.  More serious infections (bloodstream) are very rare in healthy people.

How is MRSA transmitted?
MRSA is usually transmitted by direct skin-to-skin contact or contact with shared items or surfaces that have come into contact with someone else's infection (e.g., towels, bandages).

In what settings do MRSA skin infections usually occur?
MRSA skin infections can occur anywhere.  Settings with crowding, frequent skin-to-skin contact, and lack of cleanliness may include schools, dormitories and barracks, households, correctional facilities, and daycare centers.

Can MRSA be a problem in the retail food or food-service setting?
Staphylococcus aureus is always a concern in the food preparation setting.  The control measures in place for the common staph germ will also prevent the spread of MRSA skin infections. These measures include:

1. Maintaining a clean environment by properly cleaning and sanitizing both food-contact and non-food-contact surfaces. (See Make Cleaning Safe and Simple in this issue).
2. Keeping your hands clean by properly washing with soap and water whenever the hands may have become contaminated.  An alcohol-based hand sanitizer may be used following proper handwashing.
3. Practicing no bare hand contact with ready-to-eat food.  Use disposable gloves or another barrier.
4. Properly bandaging and covering with an impermeable cover any cut, scrape, pimple or boil.  Any bandage on the hand must be covered with a disposable glove.
5. Reporting wounds or pustular lesions to the person in charge. These must be properly bandaged, and some situations may require restriction of the food worker from working directly with food or food-contact surfaces.
6. Assuring that associates' uniforms and clothing are properly laundered and clean.  Avoid sharing personal items and avoid contact with others' wounds or bandages.

How can foodborne illness from Staph be prevented?

The control measures which prevent foodborne illness from Staphylococcus aureus, including MRSA, involve time and temperature control:  proper cooking, cooling, hot and cold holding. Practice good personal hygiene and no bare hand contact with ready-to-eat food. Avoid cross contamination by cleaning and sanitizing surfaces.  

DO IT RIGHT!


The best way to handle foodborne illness incidents or outbreaks is to prevent them in the first place.  But if you suspect you may have a foodborne illness problem, follow this action plan∗:

• Remove all suspected food from the sales areas.
  
• Label it, isolate it and preserve it for analysis.
  
• Do not sell any more of the suspect product.
  
• Listen to the customer's complaint and look for clues that might explain the problem, documenting the interview.
  
• Assure the customer you will get back to him or her after investigating the problem, and make sure that you do.
  
• Do not admit your establishment is at fault unless and until the facts have been checked and confirmed.
  
• Initiate the crisis management team:  media affairs, food safety, loss prevention, and legal counsel.

A foodborne disease outbreak occurs when two or more people experience a similar illness after eating a common food.  It is important to report a suspected outbreak.  Remember that although an investigation may confirm your establishment as a causative element in the outbreak, it is also possible that your role was coincidental.  In such a case, a thorough investigation could absolve your facility of blame.  In either case, it is necessary to learn the truth in order to prevent future illnesses.

∗Action plan based on FMI SuperSafeMark Training

Did You Know?

The bacteria Staphylococcus aureus is commonly found on the skin and in the nasal passages even of healthy people.  If Staph contaminates food and is allowed to grow (in the Temperature Danger Zone), it produces a heat-stable toxin that cooking will not inactivate. 

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