Sick workers tied to 40% of restaurant food poisoning outbreaks, CDC says

ON YOUR HEALTH TONIGHT, A NEW NATIONAL REPORT IDENTIFYING THE LEADING CAUSES OF ILLNESS OUTBREAKS AT LOCAL RESTAURANTS. HERE TO ANSWER QUESTIONS, DR. DANIEL IS CHIEF OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES AT THE BRIGHAM DR. CHRISTMAS THANKS FOR JOINING US AS ALWAYS. HAPPY TO BE HERE. ERICA AND BEN, GOOD AFTERNOON. ALL RIGHT, DR. CHRIS. GOOD AFTERNOON TO YOU. SO THE CDC REVIEWED 800 OUTBREAKS IN 25 STATES. IT’S A COUPLE OF YEARS OLD. IT’S BETWEEN 2017 AND 2019. SO PRE-PANDEMIC. BUT WHICH GERMS CAUSED THE MOST PROBLEMS? WELL, IN ABOUT 70% OF THOSE CASES, THEY WERE ABLE TO FIGURE OUT WHAT WAS THE CAUSATIVE ORGANISM. AND ABOUT HALF OF THE ONES WHERE THEY COULD FIGURE IT OUT WERE NOROVIRUS, WHICH WE KNOW COMMONLY CAUSES EPIDEMIC. DIARRHEAL AND GASTROINTESTINAL DISEASE. AND ABOUT 19% OR SO WERE DUE TO SALMONELLA, WHICH IS A BACTERIUM THAT IS THE MOST COMMON BACTERIA THAT CAUSE FOOD POISONING. OKAY. SO THEY COULD PINPOINT THAT. SO THEY LOOKED AT THE SOURCE OF CONTAMINATION IN EACH CASE AS WELL. SO WHAT DID THEY FIND THERE? WELL, THAT WAS THE SURPRISE. WHAT THEY FOUND IS THAT IT WAS REALLY SICK OF FOOD WORKERS, PEOPLE WHO THEMSELVES HAD SOME KIND OF GASTROINTESTINAL ILLNESS OR FEVER AND OTHER KINDS OF ILLNESSES WHO NEVERTHELESS CAME TO WORK AND THEN TRANSMITTED INFECTION TO THE CLIENTS OR THE PEOPLE THEY WERE SERVING. AND IT JUST HIGHLIGHTS THE IMPORTANCE OF STAYING HOME WHEN YOU’RE SICK, ESPECIALLY IF YOU’RE PREPARING FOOD FOR OTHER PEOPLE. ALL RIGHT. SO SOMETIMES WE SEE RESTAURANT WORKERS WEARING GLOVES WHEN THEY PREPARE FOOD. BUT I WOULD IMAGINE THAT’S NOT ENOUGH TO PREVENT MOST OUTBREAKS. IT DEPENDS ON, FRANKLY, HOW CLEAN THE GLOVES ARE. RIGHT? YEAH, IT CERTAINLY DOES. AND IF YOU’RE PUTTING GLOVES ON WITH DIRTY HANDS, YOU’RE GOING TO CONTAMINATE THE OUTSIDE OF THE GLOVE. THEY DID FIND THAT GLOVES WERE NOT HELPFUL WHEN PEOPLE WERE BEING SERVED WHAT THEY CALLED READY TO EAT FOODS. THAT IS FOODS THAT DIDN’T HAVE TO BE FURTHER COOKED WHERE YOU MIGHT STERILIZE THE INFECTING ORGANISM. IT JUST HIGHLIGHTS AGAIN HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO REALLY MAKE PROVISIONS TO BE ABLE TO SUPPORT PEOPLE WHEN THEY TAKE TIME AWAY FROM WORK BECAUSE OF ILLNESS IN ORDER TO INCENTIVIZE THEM NOT TO COME INTO WORK WHEN THEY ARE SICK. I THINK WE ALL ARE IN THAT PANDEMIC. IF YOU’RE SICK, STAY HOME. AND EVEN WITH THE GLOVES, SOMETIMES YOU’RE LESS LIKELY TO WASH YOUR HANDS AS OFTEN BECAUSE YOU THINK YOU HAVE THE GLOVES ON. SO, DR. DANIEL KRINSKY IS GOOD ADVICE. THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOU

Food workers who showed up while sick or contagious were linked to about 40% of restaurant food poisoning outbreaks with a known cause between 2017 and 2019, federal health officials said Tuesday. Norovirus and salmonella, germs that can cause severe illness, were the most common cause of 800 outbreaks, which encompassed 875 restaurants and were reported by 25 state and local health departments.Investigators with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention called for better enforcement of “comprehensive food safety policies,” which emphasize basic measures like hand washing and keeping sick workers off the job.Although 85% of restaurants said they had policies restricting staff from working while sick, only about 16% of the policies were detailed enough to require workers to notify managers and to stay home if they had any of the five key symptoms — including vomiting, diarrhea, and sore throat with fever.About 44% of managers told the CDC their restaurants provided paid sick leave to workers. That’s a problem, according to Mitzi Baum, the chief executive of STOP Foodborne Illness, a nonprofit advocacy group.She said it means workers are forced to choose between earning money or showing up sick — or there's social pressure not to leave fellow employees short-staffed.“If there's a positive food safety culture, you're not penalized for illness,” Baum said.It can be hard for consumers to know when sick workers might be on the job, she said, but there are some signs to look for: “Is your server sniffing? Are they sneezing? How are they handling the utensils?”About 48 million people a year in the U.S. are sickened by foodborne illness, including 128,000 who are hospitalized and 3,000 who die, according to the CDC.

Food workers who showed up while sick or contagious were linked to about 40% of restaurant food poisoning outbreaks with a known cause between 2017 and 2019, federal health officials said Tuesday.

Norovirus and salmonella, germs that can cause severe illness, were the most common cause of 800 outbreaks, which encompassed 875 restaurants and were reported by 25 state and local health departments.

Investigators with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention called for better enforcement of “comprehensive food safety policies,” which emphasize basic measures like hand washing and keeping sick workers off the job.

Although 85% of restaurants said they had policies restricting staff from working while sick, only about 16% of the policies were detailed enough to require workers to notify managers and to stay home if they had any of the five key symptoms — including vomiting, diarrhea, and sore throat with fever.

About 44% of managers told the CDC their restaurants provided paid sick leave to workers. That’s a problem, according to Mitzi Baum, the chief executive of STOP Foodborne Illness, a nonprofit advocacy group.

She said it means workers are forced to choose between earning money or showing up sick — or there's social pressure not to leave fellow employees short-staffed.

“If there's a positive food safety culture, you're not penalized for illness,” Baum said.

It can be hard for consumers to know when sick workers might be on the job, she said, but there are some signs to look for: “Is your server sniffing? Are they sneezing? How are they handling the utensils?”

About 48 million people a year in the U.S. are sickened by foodborne illness, including 128,000 who are hospitalized and 3,000 who die, according to the CDC.

Sick workers tied to 40% of restaurant food poisoning outbreaks, CDC says

GET LOCAL BREAKING NEWS ALERTS

Good Housekeeping