Tag Archives: Charlotte

Norovirus sucks; The Cowfish reopens after 50 illnesses and a deep clean

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Last week I talked to a bunch of retail food safety folks at FMI Foundation’s Retail Food Safety Forum about norovirus (and other stuff). Part of my message was that once the perfect human pathogen is in a restaurant, grocery store, or cruise ship, it’s tough to get it out without some illnesses.

Part of the problem with noro (beyond the low mean infectious dose; environmental stability; and, 10^9 virus particles per gram of vomit/poop) is a vomit event can lead to particles floating through the air. And maybe moving 30 feet from the barf splatter. Check out Grace Thompson’s vomit modeling apparatus (below, exactly as shown) for more.

According to WCNC, The Cowfish, a popular sushi and burger joint in Charlotte, is about to reopen following a noro outbreak affecting over 50 staff and patrons. Mecklenburg County Medical Director Dr. Stephen Keener says the working theory, according to is that a patron or food handler had the virus, brought it into the system, and spread it.

The Cowfish voluntarily closed its doors after norovirus is believed to have made about 50 people sick last week.

They original closed the doors to the restaurant as a precaution. The second time they closed, they brought in professionals to clean. Something they didn’t do the first time.

NBC Charlotte pulled up the most recent health inspection report. The restaurant was cited for hands not being clean and properly washed.

The health department still hasn’t found the cause of the illness and released this statement: ‘Cowfish management has been proactive and in constant contact with the Health Department.”

The owner of the restaurant calls this a regrettable situation and says, ‘We also will continue to work with health officials to be sure we are doing everything possible to protect the health and safety of our guests and employees.’

Bringing in some professionals who have compounds that are effective against noro (CDC advises 1000-5000ppm of chlorine for contaminated surfaces).

 

Charlotte restaurant owner says cost of vaccinating food handlers against hepatitis A worth it

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Risk-based decision making is the mantra in food safety. Picking out an intervention is a starts with a numbers game: calculating the prevalence of an action (like handwashing) and matching that with the likelihood of a pathogen in the system. This is the stuff that gets the math nerds like Schaffner excited (me too).

Businesses are faced with cost/risk/benefit decisions daily.ART_vaccine_032711-copy_1

One that’s been debated in food service for over twenty years is whether or not employers or public health folks should require food handlers to be vaccinated for hepatitis A. Authors of a 2000 Journal of Food Protection arrived at the conclusion that the public health benefit of vaccinating for hep A doesn’t equal the costs – but doesn’t factor in all the bad publicity, hassle and incident management costs.

A Charlotte restaurant owner who dealt with a hep A exposure event says the cost to his business was more than the shots, and is suggesting that all food handlers should be vaccinated.

Charlotte restaurant owner is going on the offensive battling perception and health concern over Hepatitis A.

“The restaurant industry is thriving,” said Jon Dressler, owner of three Charlotte-area restaurants.

Last month, however, he received a call no one wants to get.

“We were contacted by the Mecklenburg Health Department that one of our employees had contacted Hep A while on vacation,” said Dressler. “It’s not a cleanliness issue, it’s not an internal issue. The health department didn’t have to shut us down.”

Rather than being upset, Dressler has another idea.

“It would be wonderful if all of Mecklenburg County restaurant workers were required to have the Hep vaccination,” said Dressler.

The National Restaurant Association reports there are 426,000 restaurant workers in North Carolina. The two-set vaccination is about $150 a person.  Meaning, it would cost close to $64 million to vaccinate all restaurant workers in the state.  No one from the state or Mecklenburg County health departments wanted to comment on camera about the need for the vaccine.  However, the CDC did put out a report.

“Slowly, but surely, all of my employees are being vaccinated,” said Dressler.

The restaurant owner isn’t taking chances, making all of his employees get the vaccine.  He admits it’s expensive, but it’s a cost he’s willing to take.

“You weigh the expense of the vaccination versus the expense of any lost business you might incur,” said Dressler.

Charlotte restaurant server diagnosed with hepatitis A

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When I was a PhD student I volunteered as a dishwasher in a restaurant as part of my food safety-related research. I saw lots of things, but the two things I remember most is that I was often asked to work with a server to do some salad plating; and I had to listen to a lot of Pink Floyd.

There was some Tom Petty, and The Clash, but a lot of Pink Floyd.

Servers, while not traditionally thought as food handlers, are often involved with scooping beverage ice, putting silverware together and sometimes, as I experienced, salad preparation.mondo_446339a

And when a server is confirmed ill with hepatitis A, even if they are superstars at handwashing, a whole lot of business hurt happens. Stuff like public health clinics and loss of confidence.

According to WCNC, a server at a Charlotte-area restaurant, Dogwood Southern Table and Bar, has the virus and may have exposed patrons in early February.

Health officials say the worker did not prepare food, but was responsible for polishing silverware and severing food. Monday afternoon, the Health Department offered a walk-in clinic for free vaccination.

One customer who received the vaccination, who did not want to be identified, said she was surprised by the news.

“I’m very concerned because I have small kids at home and so I worry about not just myself, but my family, and so it’s unfortunate.”

So far about 20 people have been vaccinated.