California’s Sick Restaurant Workers Increase Food Poisoning Risks
A new study finds that germs in a restaurant may spread not just through contaminated food and drink, but also through sick workers. According to a survey of restaurant workers in nine states, one out of every eight restaurant workers admitted that he or she has come to work at least twice in the past year while sick. Worse, these workers suffered from either diarrhea or vomiting when they reported ill to work.
That makes it about 12% of restaurant workers who reported to work while sick. It’s also increase of 5% over the number of such restaurant workers in previous studies. The study has been published in the Journal of Food Protection.
Questions of food safety in restaurants in California seem to be quite strongly linked to employment and labor issues in the state. The survey found that the biggest reason why restaurant workers report sick to work is because they simply don’t have enough numbers of sick days off. Restaurant workers don’t get paid sick leave, and so, when they’re forced to take a day off because they’re ill, they lose a day’s pay. California’s poor economy provides fewer opportunities for workers to make extra money, and when workers are faced with the prospect of missing out on a day at work because they’re sick, they choose to report for work instead.
It doesn’t take rocket science to figure out that a sick restaurant worker handling your food increases the risk of contaminating the food and the risk of food poisoning. Food safety concerns are high right now, and most of these concerns have focused on the risks from contaminated meat, poultry, eggs and produce. But, every year, thousands of Americans fall sick from contaminated food that they eat in restaurants. It’s hard to determine exactly how many of those food poisoning illnesses can be traced to sick restaurant workers.
California food poisoning lawyers would place much of the blame for this on the National Restaurant Association, a group that has long lobbied for restaurateur interests, and has fought paid sick leave for workers. According to the National Restaurant Association, its biggest concern is food safety. It’s hard to believe that comment, when the organization leaves restaurant workers with no choice, but to report sick to work.
There are several ways that a restaurant worker can contaminate food and drink. For instance, when a sick worker touches food or utensils used to carry or serve food, the food can be contaminated. When a patron of the restaurant eats the food, he has a high risk of contracting food poisoning. The survey also has some interesting findings about the kind of restaurants that have more sick workers. For instance, busier restaurants are more likely to have workers reporting for work sick.
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