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ironically Edgar Romo a health inspector with Riverside County became severely ill after eating at a comedy club which is no laughing matter but let me tell you it was not in Riverside County though about 12 hours after having a chicken dinner Edgar experience nausea vomiting and diarrhea basically after hours and hours of all this and the fever and the dehydration becoming so embarrass I'd I need to go to the ER and basically that's what happened so I was in the ER waiting room and the pain was so severe that I basically passed out when I woke up - I was in a gurney and the doctor was over me and he was asking me a couple questions I didn't know how to hydrate it was until he told me I'm gonna give you saline until you want to use the restroom and after four liters later I still didn't want to use it so I figured I was very severely dehydrated and for the most part I mean that was a very very scary event I almost thought I was gonna die and it's hard to say that because you know I'm a big guy and I played high school football and the whole thing anyone who's ever had food poisoning knows it's a horrible experience that they never want to suffer through again food poisoning can cause vomiting diarrhea and fever in a healthy adult but for infants children and the elderly and those with serious medical conditions like kidney disease or diabetes food poisoning can be fatal because their immune systems may not be able to fight off the infection pregnant and breastfeeding women also need to be extremely careful for the sake of their child you've seen the letter grade in the window of restaurants from their health inspections but do you think you should be concerned about food safety in your own home consider this kitchen sinks are as dirty as most bathrooms there are typically more than 500 thousand bacteria per square inch in the drain alone an estimated 5,000 people in the United States die from food poisoning each year what if the county's Department of Environmental Health came in and graded our kitchens at home would your kitchen pass according to FDA consumer magazine a survey was conducted in 106 kitchens at 81 cities across America and Canada and only one home received an acceptable rating none were excellent and 96% had critical violations which in themselves could lead to foodborne illness how do you feel about your kitchen passing now hopefully after watching this program you'll better understand the basics of preventing food poisoning as we cover the ways Riverside County Department of Environmental Health regulates food sold to the public and food workers you'll see how the department protects the public's health how to avoid food poisoning and how you can apply these same concepts in your own home in fact inappropriate consumer food handling and preparation practices in the home caused approximately 25 percent of reported outbreaks the United States enjoys what is arguably the safest food supply in the world still 76 million Americans gets more than 300,000 are hospitalized and incredibly 5,000 die each year from foodborne illness preventing foodborne illness and death remains a major public health challenge there are several things that can contaminate our food to make it unsafe and lead to illness physical objects chemicals insects rodents animals dirty equipment people molds viruses fungi and bacteria physical hazards are such things as a piece of metal wood or glass these have the potential for causing injury chemical hazards that could be carelessly introduced to food are cleaning or pesticide products like bleach soap or bug spray but bacteria caused the most illnesses however simply enough they can be prevented with safe food practices like proper handling and thorough cooking you can't see smell or taste bacteria but there can be millions multiplying on food products on kitchen surfaces utensils and especially your hands for example this is a culture of bacteria taken from this commercial door handle and this culture is of a gloved hand that touched the handle this graph shows the most updated information from the Riverside County Disease Control branch regarding reported incidents of foodborne illness the key word is reported foodborne illnesses in Riverside County are most commonly caused by the bacteria salmonella Campylobacter Shigella and e-coli as well as the hepatitis A virus and the Giardia parasite pathogens are all around us some of them live in the animals we slaughter to eat and others contaminate food through sewage fly's water or infected people in order to prevent the spread of foodborne illness in your home it helps to understand how it's caused the main causes for the spread of foodborne illness from these pathogens are improper or no hand-washing cross-contamination improper sanitization improper holding temperatures and improper cooking temperatures to reproduce bacteria need food and moisture time and a comfortable temperature potentially hazardous foods have all the nutrients and moisture the bacteria need here are many of the foods that will cause illness if not temperature controlled and handled properly the temperature danger zone for food is basically the range of temperatures where bacteria like to grow best which is between 42 and 134 degrees Fahrenheit our normal body temperature of 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit falls right in the middle of that zone the longer food stays in the danger zone the more risky it is because bacteria levels can double every 20 minutes as they grow harmful bacteria make toxic chemicals that can cause illness above 135 degrees bacteria and viruses begin to slow down and die but the dangerous toxins can remain refrigerators and freezers do not destroy bacteria or their toxins nor do they prevent them from dividing but bacterias reproduction is drastically slowed down at lower temperatures the key thing to remember is that potentially hazardous foods should be kept below 41 or above a hundred and thirty-five degrees so now let's take a look at how our most common causes of foodborne illness relate to bacteria though it's disgusting to think about many harmful bacteria are spread by getting microscopic amounts of human or animal feces in your mouth this is why proper hand-washing is considered the single best way to prevent the spread of disease washing hands for the correct amount of time with soap removes most of the bacteria and lets it wash down the drain be sure to wash between your fingers and turn off the faucet with a paper towel when a veil look at how much bacteria can be on a bathroom faucet proper hand-washing removes 99.9% of bacteria according to estimates by the Minnesota Department of Public Health alcohol-based hand sanitizers are a good supplement to hand-washing but not a replacement cross-contamination cross-contamination is the transfer of harmful bacteria from one place to another some of the dirtiest places in your home are caused by cross-contamination considering the bacteria per square inch you may think you'd find these mainly in your bathroom but many of them are in your kitchen raw chicken is one of the potentially hazardous foods that can Harbor several types of bacteria even though you're planning to cook the chicken at the proper temperature to kill the bacteria anything you touch after touching the raw chicken has the potential to spread the germs just rinsing the cutting board will not remove the bacteria and ideally you would use an entirely different board for items that will not be cooked like they say in environmental health don't cross contaminate separate use separate cutting boards keep raw food stored at the bottom of your refrigerator and all cooked and ready to eat foods on the top shelves so the food above does not contaminate the food underneath be careful not to store raw meat directly above uncovered ready to eat lettuce the blood can drip onto the lettuce causing cross-contamination improper sanitization sanitizing at restaurants is the best way to kill bacteria on utensils sanitizing means using either extreme heat such as hot water at 171 degrees for a certain time interval or chemicals such as bleach or ammonia to kill the bacteria wiping cloths sponges cutting boards and dirty hands are common areas that Harbor bacteria they can be a major source of cross contamination often a towel is used to wipe a dirty surface then later your hands then you prepare food at home to help prevent the spread of bacteria you may want to use disposable paper towels when working with potentially hazardous food heat wet sponges for 30 seconds in the microwave oven and wash towels after possible contact with bacteria surfaces and items can be sanitized with a solution of 1 TSP bleach - 1 quart water restaurants must meet several sanitizing requirements in order to keep the public safe and these are verified during restaurant inspections improper holding temperatures as we've mentioned if certain foods are in the danger zone for too long they may grow bacteria this can happen within hours if they're left out or if the time to attain proper temperatures is too long such as a large pot of hot pasta being placed in the refrigerator and the center staying in the danger zone for several hours while it slowly cools thus allowing bacteria to multiply improper cooking temperatures we must cook potentially hazardous foods to specific temperatures in order to kill bacteria that may be in or on them here are the minimum temperatures to which they need to be cooked the only way to know the temperature of cooked foods is to use a food thermometer for example hamburger patties must reach a temperature of 155 degrees color is not a reliable indicator of proper cooking this also applies to the microwave oven there may be cold spots in the middle so food needs to be stirred or rotated and continued heating check the temperature in the middle of the food think of a food thermometer as your most helpful cooking utensil after foods have been heated to the appropriate temperatures to kill the pathogens 135 degrees is an adequate holding temperature though food poisoning at home and eating out is often underreported data from the Centers for Disease Control indicates that 80 percent of reported foodborne illness outbreaks occur outside the home this is why routine food facility inspections by the Department of Environmental Health in Riverside County and other counties like it are so important food safety is a joint effort between regulatory governmental agencies the food supply industry and you the consumer so what role do governmental agencies play in keeping the food you eat safe at the local level most counties in California have a Department of Environmental Health that enforces local and state laws they keep apprised of issues regulated by other agencies such as the FDA USDA and the California Department of Public Health Food and Drug branch all counties in California must at the minimum enforce the requirements set forth in the California retail Food Code most people know about environmental health from the restaurant inspections where you see either an a B or C in the window of a restaurant but the department helps assure food safety in many other ways as well food worker certification to teach food handlers safe practices inspection of retail food vending such as markets vehicles and market nights food facility construction plan checks for remodeling or new construction and finally ticketing illegal vendors and confiscating unsafe food they're selling in illegal locations the ultimate goal of the food safety division of environmental health is preventing illness and the spread of disease environmental health essentially inspects any food facility that serves the public from restaurants to fruit stands and carts to booths at events let's find out what the health inspectors look for and what the a B and C grades mean in Riverside County unannounced inspections are conducted three times per year at all food facilities throughout the county today Ralph's Fragoso and Sandy delaio are inspecting a restaurant that serves pizza and salads the health inspector takes temperature readings of foods in cold holding drawers we checking them for temperatures and cleanliness we need these to be at at least 41 degrees or less this one's fine if an inspector encounters a problem such as this bacon being hotter than 41 degrees he talks with the manager and staff to find out if there's an explanation in this case the bacon was recently placed in the cold drawer and is acceptable if a restaurant has a violation the inspector notes it on the restaurant inspection form he checks refrigerators to make sure items are stored correctly so they won't contaminate each other the sanitizer solution is used for the storage of cleaning linens the facility has these set up throughout the restaurant as as they work throughout the day are they required to keep the food contact surfaces clean to the site and touch and part of the proper disinfecting these contact surfaces is to use these wiping linens that are kept in sanitizing solution the health inspector tests to make sure there's a proper amount of sanitizer in the bucket when used properly sanitizer will kill nearly 100 percent of bacteria he checks around equipment and advises the manager of areas that should be cleaned more thoroughly for cleanliness and to help prevent attracting vermin he checks the food storage room for cleanliness to make sure containers are sealed correctly and that food is stored off of the floor in the refrigerator and freezer he checks for proper temperatures and to make sure food is being stored in such a way that it will not get contaminated one of the things that I look for are cooked items that have been placed in large containers inside of a walk-in that won't properly cool there is a proper way to thaw food we do what we call a freezer pull which is done once daily and a freezer pull is essentially frozen items pulled out of the freezer and then put on our freezer pull racks which are right here we try and arrange them to make sure that they're in order and we you know one side is all the Bulls or non meats mostly at home the best way to thaw is in the refrigerator because this method most safely prevents food from entering the danger zone defrosting in a microwave is also acceptable and fast foods may be thawed under cold running water to wash away contaminants and finally thawing can be done as part of the cooking process for some foods leaving food out on the counter to thaw is not a good practice the outside of it could be sitting there in the temperature danger zone and often times we forget how long it's actually been setting out ralph concludes his section by checking the walk-in freezer restaurants must wash and sanitize all dishes used for the public most have dispensers that automatically measure the proper amounts of soap and sanitizer for a sink full of water washing removes food grease and other soil rinsing removes soap and bits of food sanitizing kills any bacteria left behind the inspector checks the temperature of the wash water and the amount of sanitizer in the final rinse it doesn't look like they have any sanitizer in this compartment based on the fact that the color did not change we're looking for a color change in this section here so if you can see they ran out of sanitizer in the sanitizing bucket and after I let them know that they ran out of sanitizer the dishwasher replaced the sanitizer bucket and we now have new sanitizer solution of the correct level restaurants also use high temperature dishwashers that heat water to 171 degrees the inspector uses a thermal sticker to make sure the surface of the dishes reach the proper temperature to kill all bacteria at least 150 degrees on this bowl sandy inspects the beverage area for cleanliness she finds some particles inside a soda nozzle and instructs the manager on proper techniques to prevent this in the future I'm going to check the restrooms to make sure that there is hot water soap and paper towels each restaurant inspection is done so that the facility begins with a hundred points as violations are observed points are deducted in the end the facility receives the final score and that score is then assigned to a letter grade violations can ra
ge from minor to major with more points deducted when the risk of foodborne illness increases an example of a major violation would be improper holding temperatures or cross contamination issues if food facilities in Riverside County receive a B or C they are instructed how to correct their violations and re-inspected within one week report today based on this inspection this restaurant would receive a passing grade of an A but would have points deducted resulting in a final score of 94 running out of sanitizer is a major violation and they also had minor cleaning issues restaurants rarely receive a perfect score of 100 if you travel to other counties you'll find grades and actions taken are not uniform in both San Bernardino and San Diego counties both a and B scores are considered passing grades in Los Angeles County a facility may receive an A B or C and will only fail and be closed if there's a critical violation that cannot be corrected immediately in Orange County they do not post letter grades but you may ask the restaurant to see a copy of the inspection report health inspectors do not always encounter such clean conditions this is what happens if you don't clean a soda nozzle properly that's mold growing where it makes contact with the beverage this dirty piece of equipment was used to make waffle fries this sits out in optimal temperatures for hours each day with a potential for bacteria to thrive food establishments are required to clean food contact surfaces at least every four hours or when dirty this is what happens when they do not clean under and around equipment on a daily basis inspectors look for rub marks to marks and droppings that can indicate a rodent or insect problem unfortunately these pests can also come into facilities in food shipments bacteria in urine and feces can get into food cockroaches carry bacteria on their bodies and can fit into very small spaces the egg sac pictured here contains up to 200 cockroaches flies are another health hazard all of the sanitizing chemicals procedures for maintaining cleanliness and the latest equipment are all for nothing if the staff doesn't follow proper food safety and handling to help protect you from getting food poisoning at retail food facilities the department's of Environmental Health in Riverside San Bernardino and San Diego counties require that all food handlers pass a food worker certification test to assure they understand safe food practices the fact is the food worker is the best defense against foodborne illness what are some of the gross ways that food preparers can interact with food coughing or sneezing into foods or on utensils smoking around food cuts or sores on hands touching their mouth nose or other body parts and inadequate hand-washing especially after using the bathroom whether preparing food at a restaurant or at home food handlers need to realize that cooking removes very few contaminants protecting food is easier than trying to remove contamination from it and people can be a source of contamination food workers are taught about all of the causes and prevention of food poisoning that we've discussed workers learn that mistakes they make with food can hurt and may kill people so they must continuously adhere to safe food practices have you ever wondered if it was safe to eat food from a cart or a food truck well counties in California require all mobile food facilities be inspected and receive a permit from Environmental Health to legally operate of course some operators choose to operate illegally so we'll show you how to tell the difference in Riverside County operators must also pass the food worker certification however no food preparation or cooking of the food may take place so if you see this happening you're probably not eating from a cart that has been inspected for food safety this card is new and is receiving its first inspection one of the main differences between this card and let's say a homemade car that you might see out on the street which is not legally permitted is in the construction itself this food enclosure is designed to prevent dust flies contamination from edge into any of the compartments that food is going to reside in with an illegal set up with an unpermitted cart they do not have a food enclosure the possibility is that dust can get inside and potentially contaminate the food this gentleman is required to follow a very very strict menu of food items he is not allowed to prepare things such as tacos he is not allowed to prepare Romney it's out in the field he cannot even cut strawberries or fruit again that is all hopefully to prevent any type of contamination which could lead to a foodborne illness before issuing a mobile food facility permit the health inspector checks to make sure that all items on the cart are working properly and meet the requirements yeah it's a very very nice card everything is stainless steel this is pretty much a model of what we want to see when we see food vendors out on the street once permitted mobile food facilities can operate anywhere in Riverside County however cities may have restrictions commissaries play a vital part in legal mobile food facility operation not only must operators obtain prepackaged food there but they must also store service and clean their unit there it's a hot windy Wednesday evening at the Indio swap meet health inspectors are performing a field check to see if food vendors are in compliance at the first cart inspector Gregg Reyes doesn't like what he sees drink containers have spoon handles submerged in them that not only can spread germs from hand stirring them but the containers allow contamination it's windy you can tell I'm gonna inspect the dirt by today that means every other surface out here so anytime they're opening here and opening mess drink mix is found proving that the vendor is mixing up additional drinks with ice out in the dusty conditions he can't even use the protected chamber in his cart because he's using it for storage instead for any sort of food processor he has unlabeled sandwiches so there's no way to tell if these were made in his home in unsanitary conditions there's nacho cheese in an unlabeled jar at the next booth the vendor is selling the potentially hazardous foods hot dogs and corn when the corn is inspected it is only around 101 degrees but I put it up right now almost 10 minutes or 20 minutes so it wasn't hot when it got here hot foods must be above 135 degrees when they are transported from the commissary to the place of sale and the vendor has just admitted that the corn has been in the danger zone for it oh is 10 to 20 minutes this has to be hot when it comes in so all the kernel corn has to go next time you got to bring it hot already beverages that are susceptible to spoiling such as horchata are not allowed on mobile food facilities the vendor is cited and explained about her violations and how to correct them on the other side of the swap meet Jeff Lajoie ski and fritzy devera check a booth that is in a complete compliance mucho mejor better fruit is properly labeled in an insulated compartment on ice and at the correct temperatures of below 41 degrees vendors who operate at temporary or occasional events such as fairs and market nights have a broader choice of foods they may prepare but they must still be inspected by environmental health after becoming familiar with the causes of foodborne illness the strict food chain management and sanitizing requirements of restaurants and the limits placed on mobile units because of the potential for certain foods to cause food poisoning it's easier to understand why Riverside County environmental health absolutely does not allow unpermitted food vendors to sell food to the public in order to protect your health look for vendors who are illegal if they are not being inspected it's difficult for you to know if they are actually practicing safe food preparation and holding cooking is never allowed from a private home or on the roadside some vendor setups and carts may look legal so remember the items we've mentioned the permit sticker identification the food is protected the card is clean hot and cold holding areas a hand-washing sink soap and paper towels time and again foodborne illness goes back to the risky behaviors here are the top causes of foodborne illness according to the Centers for Disease Control 63 percent is by far the top not cooled quickly enough or not kept cold enough as we've learned this can often happen because food is left out or it doesn't cool quickly enough another example might be if someone gets a doggie bag but goes to a movie after dinner and leaves the food in the car for several hours before refrigerating it similarly potato salad that started out cold but is left out in the Sun for hours at your backyard barbecue poses a real risk of food poisoning instead use shallow pans no higher than four inches to cool large amounts of food quickly don't let items set out to cool refrigerate food immediately keep foods on ice or bring out less at a time remember the basics wash your hands often take care not to cross contaminate especially with towels sponges cutting boards and your hands carefully store and handle raw and ready-to-eat foods wash fruits and vegetables keep potentially hazardous foods below 41 or above 135 degrees cook meats to proper temperatures and reheat leftovers adequately use a food thermometer we can't guarantee that you'll never get food poisoning again but practicing proper food handling at home and choosing safe facilities when you eat out will better your chances of feeling healthy and happy you
