coliat Chipotle orListeriain Blue Bell ice cream, companies that distribute contaminated food dont usually go out of business.
They clean up, fix problems, and move on.
Its impossible to guarantee that food is safe, whether theres been a recent outbreak or not.
But when a company has an outbreak, obviously something has gone wrong.
Either way, its the companys responsibility to see to it thatListeriaorSalmonellaorE.
colidont make it to your plate.
Fortunately, companies have begun to realize that acting quickly is in their best interests too.
Usually, they say, companies recall products voluntarily.
Blue Bell didnt act quickly enough, he said.
The FDAwill publicly announce recallsif theres a serious problem people need to know about.
So far, Chipotle has no idea what caused theirE.
Even the most recent outbreak,announced this week, involves cases that happened way back around Thanksgiving.
They Change the Way They Do Things
First, of course, they cleaneverything.
Before Chipotles stores could reopen, they had tothrow out all their food and sanitize every surface.
But in 1996, a batch of apples came in withE.
colicontamination, leading to an outbreak that killed a toddler.
The companyreversed their position, and now pasteurizes their juices.
Foster Farmsalso changed significantly after their2013 outbreak of multi-drug-resistant Salmonellathat sickened hundreds.
Tracking down the source was tricky, becauseSalmonellais fairly common in poultry.
Its the reason why wecook our turkeys to 165 degreesand ensure tonever ever lick the spoonwhen making cookie dough.
This will reduce the risk of contamination no matter where the veggies came from.
Chipotles planincludes full-page ads and direct mail couponsto encourage customers to come back to stores.
To be sure that the new procedures are preventing outbreaks, well have to wait a few more weeks.
you could never be guaranteed that food is safe, whether theres been a recent outbreak or not.
