The $75,000 question

$75,000 – Who wants it?
$75,000 – Who has it to spare?

The headlines over the past week have been filled with discussion of food safety. Pet food, spinach, peanut butter and olives have all had national recalls because of food safety issues. Food safety is something we all take for granted until the worst occurs. Then all hell breaks loose. On the average the going rate for legal settlements in food poisoning law suits against foodservice operators is right around $75,000. Now that makes buying fresh meats and produce from distributors that can’t guarantee their cold chain or can’t tell you what plant a product came from look like a shortsighted cost saving measure. Not so much of a bargain, huh?

Ok, I bet many of you are thinking that it will never get to the point of a lawsuit. It may not. BUT IT MIGHT! If it does, it is devastating. To your business. To you personally. To those you employ. It is just about over for about 90% of the independent restaurant owners if something like that happens.

So the lawsuit doesn’t happen. Let’s take into consideration the hidden costs associated with someone getting sick in your restaurant. How many people will they tell they had a bad meal at your place? How many people will those people tell? How many diners will not choose your restaurant when they hear that story? All of a sudden, cheap produce delivered in the August heat in an unrefrigerated truck doesn’t look so appealing regardless of the price. Produce that can’t be traced back to the fields that it was grown in isn’t reassuring to your customer when a spinach recall occurs. A salmonella outbreak occurs and you can’t say with certainty that the food you are serving wasn’t tainted during production can have negative repercussions even if someone doesn’t get sick in your place.


What can you do to keep yourself and your customers safe? What measures can you take to make sure that nothing like that happens to you?

1) Buy your fresh produce from companies that provide 100% trace back ability. With 100% trace back capacity, you can know with absolute certainty whether or not your produce was manufactured in a tainted field.
2) Buy your fresh produce from companies that can provide a cold chain guarantee. It doesn’t take long for bacteria to grow when the food temperature doesn’t stay in the safe zone.
3) Buy your meats and poultry from purveyors that can tell you what plant the product was processed in and when it was manufactured.
4) Buy your meats and poultry from distributors that can provide cold chain integrity. Summer heat provides a fertile environment for bacteria growth.

These are just a few of the steps that you can take to help insure the safety of your customers and your business. With the temperatures reaching into the mid 80s today, I couldn’t help but think of some of the delivery vehicles I saw out on the streets and the potential hidden costs associated with using them.

Find out more about food safety by visiting www.gfs.com > resources > food safety awareness.