May 31, 2023 – According to a brand new CDC report, 40% of food poisoning cases in restaurants from 2017 to 2019 were attributable to sick food staff.
According to the report, about 800 outbreaks in 875 restaurants were reported by 25 state and native authorities.
The commonest causes were norovirus and salmonella.
“The findings of this report can help health authorities and food retailers develop data-driven and effective approaches to preventing outbreaks of foodborne illness,” the CDC report says.
Investigators implemented higher “comprehensive food safety policies,” including washing hands and keeping sick employees home.
“Although 85% of restaurants reported having policies prohibiting staff from working while sick, only about 16% of policies were detailed enough to require employees to notify managers and stay home if they had any of the five main symptoms – including vomiting, diarrhea and sore throat with fever,” the Related Press reported.
According to the CDC, most restaurant managers don't provide paid sick leave, which implies sick employees still come to work.
“When there is a positive food safety culture, you are not penalized for illness,” Mitzi Baum, executive director of the nonprofit advocacy group STOP Foodborne Illness, told AP.
Each 12 months, roughly 48 million people within the United States develop into unwell from foodborne illnesses, in keeping with the CDC. Of these, 128,000 are hospitalized and three,000 die.