Food Safety

Exhibitors arm restaurateurs with tools to fight foodborne illness

May 22, 2007 -- Restaurateurs are stockpiling weapons and best practices in the war on foodborne illness.

And exhibitors at the National Restaurant Association 2007 Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show are arming them with tools to improve their food-safety practices. Several promoted products or services to help improve produce safety in the wake of recent foodborne illness outbreaks in fresh produce.

Representatives from Monterey, Calif.-based NRA Show exhibitor PRO*ACT, a coast-to-coast produce distributor for the foodservice industry, fielded questions from foodservice buyers at NRA Show 2007 about growing, shipping and inspection practices. Attendees asked about distributors’ food safety plans, warehouse security procedures and PRO*ACT's requirements for produce companies and distributors, said marketing manager Mary Wright-Rana.

“We’ve always had a 24/7, 365-day plan, but more people want to see it now,” she said.

Other exhibitors promoted produce washes, such as those offered by exhibitor HealthPro Brands of Cincinnati, or products to clean food-contact surfaces, such as Downey, Calif.-based PH 12.6’s all-purpose cleaner made from super ionized alkaline water.

Benicia, Calif.-based Element Ozone introduced devices that attach to a sink and dispense ozone-enriched water at the wave of a hand, spokesman Jeremy Kay says. Ozone gas is a powerful, naturally occurring disinfectant that zaps viruses, mold, mildew and other germs and converts them into oxygen, Kay says. “It adds an extra barrier whenever you’re rinsing produce with water.”

Other food-safety innovations included San Jamar's Kleen-Brush System, a device that connects nailbrushes to sink faucets. The product helped the company win one of the coveted NRA Show Kitchen Innovations Awards for 2007.

-- by Linda Busche