Food Safety Consultant Touts Steps to Minimize Liability

A prominent lawyer and food safety consultant spoke at the recent Food Safety Symposium sponsored by Nation’s Restaurant News and Ecolab. Well known Attorney Bill Marler talked about how to reduce liability and what he recommends to make your restaurant and foodservice operation safer. Here are two of the steps from this article: “Identify the hazards. This is not always easy because pathogens change,” Marler said. But companies should ask themselves if they have a HACCP plan in place and, more important, if they have committed and qualified people who understand the difference between types of pathogens, incubation times and other such food safety details.” “Think about the culture. Do you have a food-safety culture? “People like to make money and they are always bumping into ethical issues,” Marler said. “You have got to draw a line in the sand that you won’t cut corners.” Read more on what a food safety consultant recommends to protect customers and your business. And, if you are an owner, operator or manager of a foodservice establishment: Was your restaurant ever the focus of a food borne illness? Did a restaurant safety expert, such as from the local health department, determine the source of the problem? What would a food service expert on food handling say about your food and beverage policies and procedures? Did you hire a legal professional or food safety consultant to assist you in making changes to comply with the outcome if there was a health department inspection or lawsuit involved? Please share your comments with our readers.