School HACCP: Validating Effective Food Safety Control Strategies to Prevent Foodborne Illness from Improperly Cooled Foods

<p>NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY:<br/> Between 1973 and 1997, more than 600 foodborne disease outbreaks attributed to schools were reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), resulting in nearly 50,000 illnesses, >1500 hospitalization, and one death (Bean et al., 2002; Dyckman, 2003). This represents approximately 5% of all reported foodborne diseases outbreaks and 12% of all outbreak-associated cases reported to the CDC. The most common identified etiological agents associated with outbreaks in schools were Salmonella, S. aureus, and C. perfringens. C. perfringens is often associated with the temperature abuse of prepared foods that are classified as potentially hazardous (FDA, 2010). Small numbers are often present after cooking, particularly in meats and gravies, and then multiply to levels that can cause illness during cooling and storage of prepared foods.
The CDC estimates that each year about 10,000 actual cases occur in the U.S. with most reported outbreaks affecting dozens or even hundreds of persons. The young and the elderly are the most frequent victims of perfringens poisoning. While perfringens poisoning is not a common source of illness in the U.S., given the number of reported cases/outbreaks in the U.S., it is still an important foodborne hazard that must be addressed in institutional foodservice establishments (such as school cafeterias, hospitals, nursing homes, prisons). The institutional environment is ideal for perfringens poisoning because large quantities of food are often prepared several hours before serving so the potential for temperature abuse increases. Therefore, appropriate food safety control strategies must be designed and implemented to preventing perfringens poisoning. To help schools address this issue that
faces them each day, it is important to predict cooling rates for USDA standardized recipes so practical cooling procedures that do not require monitoring can be developed. This would allow schools to effectively meet the School HACCP standard for cooling hot foods. The aim of this project is to prevent foodborne illness, due to improperly cooled foods in the school foodservice environment. The three objectives to achieve this aim are: 1. To determine current cooling practices in school foodservice operations. 2. To predict appropriate cooling times for a selection of USDA standardized recipes to prevent pathogen growth and to comply with the SC School HACCP standard. 3. To determine if select USDA standardized recipes can be safely cooled in four hours under real world school foodservice conditions.
APPROACH: BASELINE. An online survey will be developed to identify what foods are routinely being saved as a leftover, what methods are being used to cool them, and what types of cooling equipment are readily available. The baseline survey findings will be used to determine which menu items will evaluated in years 1 and 2. The survey will be re-administered in year 3 using the same protocol as the initial administration in Year 1. Additional survey items will be included to assess cooling recommendations developed in years 1 and 2. The menu items to be tested during years 3 and 4 will be selected based on the findings of the second survey. MENU ITEMS. Cooling rates will be determined for menu items commonly saved as a leftover in the SC Child Nutrition Program. While it is ideal to generate cooling rates for every menu item in the actual school foodservice
environment, this is not practical given the number of SC schools, over 1100. In this study, tested menu items will be prepared using the corresponding USDA standardized recipes. These recipes are commonly used in all SC schools (USDA, 2006) COOLING PROCESS. Cooling will be completed in both a reach-in refrigerator and a walk-in refrigerator for each menu item at select schools across South Carolina. Menu items for each replication will be transferred to two steam table pans (12" x 20" x 2-1/2"), a commonly used size in school foodservice. The two test pans will be positioned in the same location for each replication. The walk-in refrigerator temperature will be set at 39F. Sample temperatures will be measured using 10-T thermocouples that will be connected to a data acquisition system measuring at an interval of 2.0 s. The ambient air temperature will monitored. Preparation and cooling
will be performed at least three times for each menu item in select school foodservice operations in SC. COOLING RATE. Cooling graphs and cooling mathematical models will be generated to predict cooling times for each menu item. DATA ANALYSIS. Data will be compiled and plotted using Sigma Plot version 8.0 (SPSS, Inc., Chicago, IL). Log-transformed data will be fit using linear and nonlinear regression techniques using SAS statistical software (SAS Institute, Inc., Cary NC). Individual growth curves will be entered into the ComBase Perfringens Predictor. DEVELOPMENT OF COOLING PROCEDURES. A list of USDA standardized recipes that can be safely cooled and that cannot be safely cooled within four hours will be posted on the SC School HACCP website.
<p>PROGRESS: 2010/07 TO 2011/12<br/>OUTPUTS: No esearch accomplished due to reassignment of principal investigator. PARTICIPANTS: Not relevant to this project. TARGET AUDIENCES: Not relevant to this project. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.
<p>PROGRESS: 2010/01/01 TO 2010/12/31<br/>OUTPUTS: Between 1973 and 1997, more than 600 foodborne disease outbreaks attributed to schools were reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), resulting in nearly 50,000 illnesses, >1500 hospitalization, and one death. The most common identified etiological agents associated with these outbreaks were Salmonella, S. aureus, and C. perfringens. According the the CDC Estimates of Foodborne Illness in the United States (2011), Salmonella, nontyphoidal, caused 11% of the domestically acquired foodborne illnesses and C. perfringens caused 10%. The school foodservice environment is ideal for perfringens poisoning because large quantities of food are often prepared several hours before serving so the potential for temperature abuse increases particularly if the food is saved as a leftover at the end of service.
Therefore, appropriate strategies must be determined for the cooling of leftovers to prevent perfringens poisoning. The first step in doing so, was the development an online survey to identify what foods are routinely being saved as a leftover, what methods are being used to cool them, and what types of cooling equipment is readily available in South Carolina schools. The survey was developed during Summer 2011 and was reviewed by SC Child Nutrition staff. The survey will be administered in a web-based format to Child Nutrition Directors and their supervisory staff in the Summer of 2011. PARTICIPANTS: Not relevant to this project. TARGET AUDIENCES: Not relevant to this project. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.
<p>PROGRESS: 2010/01/01 TO 2010/12/31<br/>OUTPUTS: Between 1973 and 1997, more than 600 foodborne disease outbreaks attributed to schools were reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), resulting in nearly 50,000 illnesses, >1500 hospitalization, and one death. The most common identified etiological agents associated with these outbreaks were Salmonella, S. aureus, and C. perfringens. According the the CDC Estimates of Foodborne Illness in the United States (2011), Salmonella, nontyphoidal, caused 11% of the domestically acquired foodborne illnesses and C. perfringens caused 10%. The school foodservice environment is ideal for perfringens poisoning because large quantities of food are often prepared several hours before serving so the potential for temperature abuse increases particularly if the food is saved as a leftover at the end of service.
Therefore, appropriate strategies must be determined for the cooling of leftovers to prevent perfringens poisoning. The first step in doing so, was the development an online survey to identify what foods are routinely being saved as a leftover, what methods are being used to cool them, and what types of cooling equipment is readily available in South Carolina schools. The survey was developed during Summer 2011 and was reviewed by SC Child Nutrition staff. The survey will be administered in a web-based format to Child Nutrition Directors and their supervisory staff in the Summer of 2011. PARTICIPANTS: Not relevant to this project. TARGET AUDIENCES: Not relevant to this project. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.