The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a report released Tuesday that 40 percent of unexplained food poisoning outbreaks between 2017 and 2019 involved people who went to work at a restaurant unwell. .
Paid sick leave and other policies that support sick workers can improve food safety outcomes. according to the reportIt is based on a study of 800 foodborne illness outbreaks using data provided by 25 state and local health departments.
Of the 500 outbreaks for which investigators identified at least one cause, 205 involved poor health among workers, the report said. Other common causes included 88 cases of raw food contamination and 68 cases of food cross-contamination.
In 555 of the outbreaks, researchers were able to identify what viruses, bacteria, toxins, chemicals, or parasites were responsible. Most of the outbreaks were caused by salmonella or norovirus, reports said.
Combatting these outbreaks “will likely require a comprehensive sick worker policy,” the report said. The report highlights studies that show food service workers report sick less often with expanded paid sick leave, and that paid sick leave regulations are associated with reduced rates of foodborne illness. It pointed out.
Danielle Schneider, a professor of social policy at Harvard Kennedy School, said the report was “sobering” and stressed that the United States is the only wealthy country without paid federal sick leave.
“Reports like this show the real urgency of this, not only because it is in the interests of workers, but because it is in the public interest,” Schneider said.
Of the 725 managers interviewed by state and local health departments, 665 had a job requirement to report sick food workers to their superiors, and 620 had sick employees at work. said they were restricted or blocked. Less than half of his 316 employers said their company provided paid sick leave to employees.
Professor Schneider said shift project, collects data on people in the retail and food service industries. He said employees were forced to leave because they had no one to cover them, they felt guilty about handing over work to colleagues, they couldn’t afford to miss work, and they feared retaliation from management. He said he complained of feeling unwell.
“Food service jobs are so low-paid in our economy that food service workers face truly impossible trade-offs around issues such as working sick,” he said.
To prevent workers from coming to work sick at restaurants, catering companies, food trucks and food carts, companies need to strengthen existing policies such as banning sick workers. There may be Make a plan to staff the restaurant when someone complains of being unwell. Adopt a food safety culture where sickness absence is not penalized.
Health officials providing information on the outbreak represent a “geographically diverse region,” but the report notes that its findings may not be representative of all outbreaks in the United States. I warn you that there is. It also said it was based on information gathered before the coronavirus pandemic, and acknowledged evidence that many food retailers have changed at least some of their policies since then.
Every year, 48 million people get sick from food poisoning. According to CDC estimates. Of these, 128,000 were hospitalized and 3,000 died.
