Eating out, and surviving

Food outlets are increasing every day, but do they all maintain hygiene? A restaurant or a joint may show off great interiors, and the food may taste great, but if the place lacks cleanliness, it can spell trouble for the customers who may be unaware about the poor standard of hygiene. Improper storage of food, careless cooking, reheating of food and cross contamination can be other areas of concern for the customers. Because all or any of these can lead to food poisoning.

FOLLOW THE RULES:

In order to avoid troubles, it is absolutely important to follow certain regulations. So what are the restaurants and hoteliers doing about it? Chef Subroto Goswami, Executive Chef, Radisson Blu Hotel, Paschim Vihar, New Delhi, says, “We are following the HACCP methods to avoid food poisoning. Also, we do random microbiological test of processed food as well as uncooked foods on a regular basis. Also, we get the hand swab and equipment swab tests done from time to time. This helps us in keeping track of any variances in the microbiological load, if at all that happens.”

Kumar Shobhan, Director, Food and Beverage, Hyatt Regency, Chennai, informs, “We cannot afford to take this issue lightly. We have to be over cautious on the hygiene factor. We follow Food Safety Management System or FSMS which explains the process from selecting the right vendor, right product to the entire receiving and delivering it on the table. It is important to wash hands every time we use something. We use medicated soap, the hand wash sinks are different than the regular sinks, only chef’s entry is allowed in the kitchen, service personnel to go in the kitchen with covered head, no direct touching of food, and ‘room service’ food to be covered while transporting.”

Puneet Saigal, Director Food & Beverage, Crowne Plaza Today, Okhla, New Delhi, tells, “We do not enroll suppliers without checking the infrastructure. We are careful about the staff knowledge and training. And lastly, we don’t ignore even smallest hints.” 

TACKLING THE ISSUE:

“Immediate hospitalisation of affected guest is strongly recommended in any such case,” points out Chef Goswami. At the F&B outlet, it is recommended to follow a thorough cleaning with disinfectant of all the areas, followed by complete microbiological tests of table tops, hands of employees and other equipments. And then all leftover food are destroyed.”

Chef Nimish Bhatia, Corporate Executive Chef, The Lalit Hotel, New Delhi, adds, “Once food poisoning is detected, we need to do a ‘root cause analysis’ and a detailed microbiological sampling of the concerned food. Microbiological sampling, using Rapid Test Kits for Salmonella, can detect Ecoli instantly. Bio-luminance meter tells in 15 seconds whether the food prepared in equipments are germ-free.

Once the root cause is identified, we need to derive Standard Operational Procedure based on the results, and Implement those in accordance with the ISO/HACCP Standards.”

MEDICAL CARE IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY:

Dr Sandeep Budhiraja, Director, Max Institute of Internal Medicine says, “Short episodes of vomiting and small amount of diarrhoea lasting less than 24 hours can usually be cared for at home.” He suggests the following steps for self care at home:

■ Stay hydrated. Frequent sips of fluids, especially ORS, are the best way to stay hydrated that help replace the body fluids.

■ Generally prescribed anti-vomiting and diarrhoea medications may be given.

■ The patient may need to be admitted to the hospital depending on the severity of the dehydration, response to medicines and ability to drink fluids without vomiting. These patients need to be started on intravenous fluids to correct their hydration status fast. If not treated timely, severe dehydration can lead to a serious condition.

■ If fluids have been tolerated for good 12 hours, eating should begin slowly when nausea and vomiting have stopped. Plain foods that are easy on the stomach should be started in small amounts. Initially, consider eating rice, breads, potatoes, low-sugar cereals.

■ Avoid milk products.

■ It is recommended that elderly people and children should be taken to a physician for proper treatment.