blog 3

To whom this may concern,   

The CDC estimates that 48 million cases of foodborne illnesses are reported each year. Then each year 128,000 people are hospitalized because of foodborne illnesses and 3,000 deaths. Foodborne illness is a frequent public health problem but can still be prevented if there were more regulations on food. Food poisoning affects about one in six people each year. Many foodborne outbreaks result from people consuming foodborne pathogens that are Salmonella, Listeria, E. coli, and norovirus tend to be the most common. Restaurants tend to be one of the primary sources of foodborne illnesses outbreaks. These pathogens can get into food by contamination during manufacturing and distributing, improper food handling, contamination in stores, and unsafe practices on farms. But sixty percent of foodborne illnesses have been linked to restaurants. Since many restaurants tend to be on the news periodically because of foodborne illnesses. The health department tends to go to restaurants only twice or three times a year to do their inspections. The health department would send a health inspector more than three times each year if there were a complaint by a customer saying that they got food poisoning or if a restaurant has had previous problems keeping up with their regulations. The health inspectors have a point-based system to know if a restaurant will pass or fail the inspection. In order for a restaurant to pass the inspection, they have to get a 90 to 100 points. If they get 60 –80 points on the inspections which are a fail, but the restaurant can remain open which risks the public to get sick, and the health inspector will return to that restaurant to check if they have fixed the problems. Anything below 60 points the restaurant will be automatically closed for business. Then the health department only requires chefs, supervisors, and managers to have certification in food protection. Then one person has to have the certification in every shift. To get the certification, the employee must complete the sixteen-hour course before taking the exam. Each employee will have to be recertified every four years to keep their job positions. 

Meanwhile the cooks who are the people who mainly prepare the customer food does not have to have the certification in food protection. One solution to stop foodborne illness would have restaurants require all their employees that handle food to have the certification in food protection. Also, if there were more regulation on food in restaurants and farms, it would be easier to prevent people from getting food poisoning. The health department should be visiting restaurants more frequently to do inspections especially if the restaurant does not pass the inspection to make sure the restaurant will not go back to their old habits once the health inspector leaves for the second time. Then the certification in food protection should be retaken more often than waiting four years to pass by since people can forget how easy it is to contaminate food with pathogens.  

Sincerely,  

Celeste Marquez Suzan