Food Microbiology Risk Reduction Program for Rutgers Dining Halls

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Food Microbiology Risk Reduction Program for
Rutgers Dining Halls

• Chithra Lakshmanan
• Don Schaffner, Ph.D.
• Food Science Department

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Why does this program exist?

• In the 1970s a large food poisoning outbreak
  struck Rutgers University
• Dr. Myron Solberg (1931-2001) was asked to
  establish a food safety program to prevent this
  from occurring again
• The current program has been under Dr.
  Schaffners direct supervision since 2000

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Food Poisoning Outbreak Risk Factors (CDC 1988-97)
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Project structure

• Project director, 2-3 graduate students, 1
  part-time technician, 1-2 undergraduate students,
  2-3 summer interns
• Continual reevaluation of the program
• Are we focusing on the right risks?
• Are we meeting the needs of our client?
• Are we up-do-date with current thinking in food
  safety?

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Weekly activities

• Unannounced visits to two dining halls and two
  smaller facilities each week during the school
  year (half time in the summer)
• Sanitation audits
• Hot and cold temperature audits
• Food microbiology testing
• Reports sent to managers and University
  sanitarian
• Weekly troubleshooting, yearly trend analysis,
  special projects as needed

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Facilities inspected

• Brower Commons
• Busch
• Cooper
• Neilson
• Tillett

• Dudley's
• Dunkin' Donuts
• The Rock
• Sbarro
• Douglass Café
• Rutgers Faculty Club
• Brower Faculty
• Tillett Faculty
• Busch Faculty
• University Inn and Conference Center

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Sanitation audits

• Project microbiologist (i.e. graduate student)
  does audit
• If problem is observed, corrective action is
  logged on the spot
• Manager signs report on site
• Copies of the report are provide to the project
  director and University sanitarian

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Example audit questions
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Temperature measurements

• Temperatures of foods are checked in
• Refrigerators
• Hot hold boxes
• Cold lines
• Hot lines
• Identify and correct systematic problems
• Equipment malfunction
• Personnel training
• Sample out of temperature foods for microbes

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Temperature Danger Zone
http//www.fsis.usda.gov
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Food testing

• Eight foods per week (four in summer)
• Indicators
• Total aerobic plate count, coliforms, fecal
  coliforms, Generic Escherichia coli
• Various pathogens
• Staphylococcus aureus, Clostridium perfringens,
  Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes, Bacillus
  cereus. Pathogenic E. coli

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Total Aerobic Plate Count
S. aureus
Coliforms
Fecal Coliforms
E. coli
Salmonella
Pathogenic E. coli
Clostridium
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Vendor Testing

• New program
• Increased focus on foods at the loading dock
• Keep risky foods out
• Eliminate risky vendors
• Increased focus on fresh produce and other high
  risk foods

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Recipe review

• Observe food production from receiving through
  preparation and serving
• Initial temperatures
• Microbial tests on raw ingredients
• Sample during preparation and cooking
• Sample final product
• Sanitarian, project microbiologists and managers
  prioritize menu items
• Reports will identify CCPs and inform policy

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Special Projects

• Special projects are initiated in response to
  problems identified through routine monitoring
• Produce wash
• Dispenser tip sanitation
• Pan type and cooling system

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Produce wash

• Routine testing indicated a problem with high
  microbial counts on various produce items
  (lettuce, peppers, etc).
• A commercially available produce wash (Victory)
  was evaluated before widespread use.
• There was a significant difference seen between
  washing in water and washing with Victory
• Average water reduction, 84
• Average Victory reduction, 99

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Dispenser tip sanitation

• What is the cause of the high counts?

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Influence of pan and cooling type
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Summary

• Since the program was initiated in the 1970s,
  there have been no reported cases of food
  poisoning at any University dining facility
• The programs helps to keep food safe, while
  providing a unique real-world learning
  experience for Rutgers students