By Ethan Covey
Only one in six restaurants or caterers that experienced foodborne illness outbreaks had detailed policies in place to prevent the spread of illness from sick workers, according to a CDC publication.
The report summarizes data from 800 foodborne illness outbreaks at U.S. restaurants, as reported by 25 state and local health departments, during 2017-2019 (MMWR Surveill Summ 2023;72[SS-6]:1-11).
Among the 69.4% of outbreaks with a confirmed or suspected agent, the most common pathogens were norovirus (47%) and Salmonella (18.6%). Of these outbreaks, four in 10 were linked to food contamination by an ill or infectious food worker.
Investigators conducted interviews with managers of the establishments from nearly 85% of the outbreaks. The overwhelming majority (91.7%) reported that their businesses had policies requiring food workers to notify their manager when they were ill.
However, only 23% said the policy listed all illness symptoms about which workers are supposed to notify managers. Only 17.8% said their policy listed all five illness symptoms that would require restriction or exclusion from work.
“It’s important for restaurants to develop and enforce policies that require workers with certain symptoms to 1) notify their manager, and 2) stay home or not work with food,” said Erin D. Moritz, PhD, an epidemiologist in the Water, Food, and Environmental Services Branch in the Division of Environmental Health Science and Practice at CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health.
“Symptoms to watch out for include vomiting, diarrhea, jaundice, sore throat with fever, and a lesion with pus. This is in addition to enforcing proper hand hygiene and safe food preparation practices.
“The public can help identify and stop ongoing outbreaks by reporting suspected illness from food to their local health department,” Dr. Moritz added. “They can also wash their hands often and avoid preparing food for others when sick.”
Dr. Moritz said the analysis did not examine whether—or how well—restaurant policies were enforced, just whether they existed. She noted, however, that the CDC conducts ongoing research into policies and practices that improve food safety in retail food settings.
“Future analyses might focus on food safety culture, ways to increase training and kitchen manager certification, and barriers to comprehensive sick worker policies,” she said.
Dr. Moritz reported no relevant financial disclosures.
