Food Safety in Restaurants: How Much Do You Know?

Test your smarts on the meals we eat out

Article September 7, 2018 Read time:

Projects: Safe Food

With about 60 percent of Americans eating at a restaurant at least once a week, safety in these establishments is key to reducing foodborne illness outbreaks. Recently, Clostridium perfringens, a pathogen that occurs when food is left at an unsafe temperature, and Cyclospora, a pathogen that is spread by people ingesting food or water contaminated with feces, have been linked to meals served by restaurants.

As we mark National Food Safety Education Month, see how much you know about the risks—and efforts to reduce them—when eating out.

# testmode:'no', # quiz: randomChoices,instantClosed # incomplete test text : Please answer all questions to show results # submit button text : Show Results # results title text : Thanks for testing your knowledge of food safety in restaurants! Find out your score below. # results title : Thanks for your participation! # results text :

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# social text : I took the food safety in restaurants quiz and got an {score} out of {total_questions}. Try it yourself and see how much you know about the food we eat in restaurants. # social url : https://pew.org/2oPdotB # _imgurl : /~/media/data-visualizations/interactives/2018/eu-fisheries-quiz/images/ ? Americans are _____ as likely to get a foodborne illness from food prepared at a restaurant as at home. - Equally + Twice ! Restaurants are the most frequent location for outbreaks. After restaurants, outbreaks with the largest average number of illnesses occurred in group settings such as prisons, catered events, schools, senior centers, and religious organizations that sponsor meals. - 5 times - 10 times ? What percentage of foodborne illness outbreaks in the United States occur at restaurants? - 15% - 40% + 60% ! Researchers found that restaurants linked to outbreaks were less likely to have kitchen managers certified in food safety than those where no outbreaks occurred. - 85% ? About ____% of all outbreaks of food-related illness are caused by norovirus. - 10% - 25% + 50% ! About 20 million people get sick from norovirus each year. It is very contagious and can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and muscle pain. Norovirus outbreaks can occur anywhere people gather or food is served. - 65% ? Infected food workers cause about _____% of reported norovirus outbreaks from contaminated food. - 10% - 35% + 70% ! Infected people can spread norovirus through close contact or by contaminating food and surfaces. There are many ways the food service industry can help prevent norovirus outbreaks, including requiring sick food workers to stay home, cleaning and sanitizing surfaces and utensils, rinsing fruits and vegetables, and washing hands. - 85% ? The amount of norovirus particles that fit on the head of a pin would be enough to infect more than 1,000 people. + True ! While sick, people infected with norovirus shed billions of viral particles. It takes a very small amount—as few as 18 viral particles—to make another person sick. - False ? Food service employees’ barehanded contact with ready-to-eat foods plays a role in ____% of restaurant-associated outbreaks. - 5% + 30% ! One of the most effective ways to prevent the contamination of ready-to-eat foods is through proper hand hygiene. According to a 2006 observational study published in the Journal of Food Protection, only a third of restaurant workers wash their hands when they should. All 50 states and the District of Columbia require food service workers to wash their hands. - 50% - 90% ? How many states prohibit food service workers from using their bare hands when handling food? - 10 - 28 + 40 ! The states that do not prohibit workers from barehanded contact with food are California, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oregon, South Dakota, and Wyoming. - 47 ? Restaurant managers are prohibited from asking employees about foodborne illness symptoms and diagnoses by the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). - True + False ! Under HIPAA, a manager may not call an employee’s health care provider and request information about the employee. However, the manager can ask employees directly about their illnesses and still comply with HIPAA regulations. Only 30 states require food workers to stay off the job for 24 hours after their symptoms have disappeared. Arizona, California, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington have passed statewide paid sick leave laws for all workers. Additionally, several other jurisdictions, including Philadelphia and New York, have citywide paid sick leave laws. ? Nearly all state, county, local, and tribal agencies overseeing food safety in restaurants and retail food stores have adopted some version of the FDA Food Code, a set of model regulations that the Food and Drug Administration updates every four years. As of 2016, how many states had agencies still using a version of the Food Code from 2001 or earlier? - 1 - 3 - 6 + 11 ! The FDA Food Code provides all levels of government with a scientifically sound technical and legal basis for regulating the retail and food service segment of the industry, including restaurants and grocery stores. Regulators use the Food Code as a model to develop or update their own food safety regulations and to be consistent with national food regulatory policy.