Is the School your Child goes to at Risk for Food Poisoning Outbreak?

A recent study on school cafeteria food safety pointed out some scary statistics that I would want to know if I had a child in school. Did you know that only 61% of all the schools in the US that are required to have two health inspections per year get those inspections? In fact, when I look at how MY state of California rates, I learned that only 32% of all our schools were inspected! What does this mean? It means your kids could be at risk for contracting a serious food-borne illness. Examples include E. coli and hepatitis A.

Now that I have your attention, however, let’s talk about statistics and why this condition exists. Don’t get me wrong, if it is YOUR kid who gets sick or even dies, these numbers mean nothing, so increasing awareness is why I am addressing this story, today.

In 2005, Congress increased the required inspections to two per year. These inspections apply to all schools that participate in the federal school lunch program, which provides free and reduced-priced meals to low-income children. However, when Congress increased the inspection requirement, they didn’t provide for more money for these inspections. Consequently, state and local health authorities don’t have the staff to meet this requirement. The smaller and more rural areas appear to be the areas most at risk.

Schools are also lower on the priority list for health departments because there are fewer outbreaks in schools than in restaurants, as indicated by government data. School cafeterias were the source of only about 3% of the documented 7,390 food poisoning outbreaks reported between 1990 and 1999, according to the CDC and congressional investigators.

Fewer inspections may not necessarily mean more cases of food poisoning, but the inspections help prevent things like inappropriate temperatures and making sure there are not rat droppings and other ‘gross’ things accumulating in the school kitchens. Inspectors ensure that cafeteria workers wash their hands properly and that they keep foods such as pizza hot and milk cold, to prevent germs from growing. E.coli results from improper handling and temperatures and hepatitis A is from improper food handling and hand washing. Simple preventative measures. Recent outbreaks of food poisoning in things like peanut butter have renewed this focus on safety.

While outbreaks in schools are rare, children are at greater risk for complications from E. coli, salmonella and other food borne germs.
To read the full report by the Center for Science in the Public Interest , click here; http://www.cspinet.org/new/pdf/makingthegrade.pdf