Blimpie's Food Poisoning Outbreaks
According to CDC verified statistics, norovirus is the primary cause of foodborne gastroenteritis. An article in the April 14, 2006, issue of the Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), a publication of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), reported on the investigation of three norovirus outbreaks in Michigan that were associated with a national submarine sandwich franchise, Blimpies, during May 3-9, 2005. The three outbreaks were linked to events catered by Blimpies.
The health department investigation identified an infected employee as the source of the outbreaks. The employee in question had handled food only a few hours after experience the flu-like symptoms associated with norovirus. After days of interviews with victims of the outbreaks and the employee in question, the health department also discovered the following:
- Lettuce was sliced
each morning by the food handler who had been ill - Heads of lettuce were washed in the same sink in which employees washed their hands
- The sink was not sanitized before and after the lettuce was washed.
The MMWR report stresses the need to educate food handlers on norovirus prevention:
The outbreak investigation described in this report underscores the
challenges associated with preventing norovirus transmission. Small
restaurants might have difficulty operating when an employee is absent and might not be able to afford paying leave for illness. However, employees whom become ill and continue to work can place the public's health at risk. The results of these investigations suggest that the illness of one food handler might have been linked to the illnesses of at least 100 persons in multiple settings. Illnesses at a publishing company, school, social service group, and among members of the public resulted in closure of a warehouse, employee absences, pay for substitute teachers, loss of wages, and loss of revenue to the restaurant during a week-long closure. These outbreaks demonstrate a general lack of education regarding norovirus.
The report did not mention the legal costs of the norovirus outbreaks, although there were some. After an outbreak is linked to a location, lawyers are usually contacted by both victims of the outbreak and restaurant owners hoping to limit their liability. If more restaurants would consider all of the costs of an outbreak, including the legal costs, there would, perhaps, not be as many foodborne outbreaks.
