To Do

Case #1

Jerome, the morning prep cook at a local restaurant, was preparing shredded cheese to be used on pizzas. His procedure included cutting the cheddar cheese into small blocks and then shredding it by hand. He prepared several 4-gallon containers and left the containers out at room temperature [70F (21C)] until use. Three (3) of the four (4) containers were used on pizzas later that day. The next day, the fourth container of cheddar cheese was used. On both days, the pizzas were cooked in an oven set to 500F (260C).

Four (4) days later, several people came back to the restaurant and said that they had become ill a few hours after eating their pizza. Only people who ate pizza on the second day appeared to have become ill.

Questions:

1.What foodborne hazard may have been associated with this foodborne illness?

2.How could this have been prevented?

Case #2

In Albuquerque, New Mexico, a well-known food establishment, identified as Restaurant JRD, had been packing customers in for years. The owners took pride in keeping the establishment spotlessly clean and serving daily thousands of thick juicy steaks and gigantic potatoes.

When some baked potatoes were left at closing time, they were stored on a kitchen counter or shelf overnight. The next morning, the salad chefs would arrive to peel, dice, and mix the leftover potatoes with other ingredients to make the side order special of the day: potato salad. This had been a standard practice for years. The finished product was put into containers and chilled before serving at noon.

One (1) day, the potato salad was made and served as usual. Customers came in for lunch and some ate potato salad. The next day, 34 customers were hospitalized for botulism; two (2) died. Before this incident, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) defined Potentially Hazardous Food (PHF) as any moist, high protein food capable of supporting rapid bacterial growth. After this deadly incident, the FDA included cooked potatoes in the list of PHF.

Questions:

1.How did those customers get botulism from potato salad?

2.What should be Restaurant JRD's game plan to prevent such an incident from happening again?