DID YOU KNOW?

► An estimated 76 million cases of foodborne disease occur in the United States each year and Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that there are 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths related to foodborne disease each year.

► World Health Organization (WHO) estimates the total annual cost of US foodborne illness exceeds $6.8 billion.

► Studies have shown that 50 percent of US food poisoning lawsuits involved a specific foodborne pathogen or illness; the average victim award is over $135,000 and food poisoning litigation is a slow and drawn-out process.

► Temperature violation is the primary cause in the reduction of freshness, safety and shelf-life of prepared foods and is a sign of inadequate temperature management within one or more segments of a foodservice business' cold chain.

► Per 2004 FDA Foodborne Illness Report, 40.3 percent of all prepared-food related health risks come from improper holding time and temperature while inadequate cooking accounts for 6.3 percent.

The food industry, particularly in the West, does a very good job of providing the public with safe and nutritious foods. However, a fair amount of foodborne illness cases continue to be reported annually and, as a result of increased global trade, the emergence of new food products and/or use of inadequate cold chain practices, foodborne illness is on the rise worldwide.

Foodborne illnesses arise from the consumer ingesting contaminated food that supports pathogenic growth, polluted with toxic chemicals and/or embedded with physical impurities. In a 1999 released report "Food-related Illness and Death in the United States," Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimated that foodborne pathogens, such as bacteria or viruses, account for 76 million annual food-caused illnesses with 5,000 deaths and 325,000 hospitalizations. According to the Council for Agriculture Science and Technology, this has an annual cost of $5 billion in direct medical expenses and losses of worker wages and productivity.

Foodborne illness is a financial detriment to the food industry and a health concern for consumers. The court system in most countries, after the complaint is proven, awards the victim economically and penalizes the defendant either financially, closing down the business or both. In the United States, multi-million dollar damage awards are not unheard of and what is even more devastating to the offending company is the public humiliation of its name and brands. For the victim consumer, the negative health impact, some that can last a lifetime, is most distressing.

Foodborne illness prevention lies with legislation and food industry vigilance with cold chain management. In the United States and other western countries, government enacted rules and regulations, such as the 2005 FDA Model Food Code and the ISO 22000:2005 Standard, provide the backdrop and the legal basis for developing and ensuring a common food safety focused public infrastructure. Food growers, suppliers, packers, transporters, retailers and consumers are also encouraged to form private organizations that study, research and/or recommend public food safety guidelines. However, what is

really the key to ensure established guidelines, public or private, are being followed is that the guildelines are being religiously followed at each stage of the food cold chain.

Rigorous temperature management is crucial to successful food cold chain management. According to the 2004 FDA Foodborne Illness Report, 40.3 percent of all prepared-food related health risks come from improper holding time and temperature and 6.3 percent is related to inadequate cooking. In today's "on-the-go, mass consumer fast food" world, in spite of the presence of public and private food safety guidelines, it is the local food operator or handler who is at the forefront for ensuring the safety and quality of the food he or she serves.

DeltaTRAK provides the food industry with end-to-end cold chain management solutions, including education and TAT (time and temperature) measurement, recording, documentation and analysis tools. DeltaTRAK’s high-precision environmental test instruments, some with fail-safe data logging or remote data monitoring and recording capability, are excellent tools for making "on-the-spot" load acceptance or rejection decision. In addition, DeltaTRAK will analyze and/or report collected environmental data for customers who do not have their own analytics resources.

"DeltaTRAK’s ColdTrak is focused on providing visibility and solutions to help the food industry improve end-to-end cold chain programs that will result in reduced costs and increase profitability," says Fred Wu, president of DeltaTRAK. "As we all know, an efficient and effective cold chain program is paramount to assure food safety. DeltaTRAK aims to be a partner with the food industry in its quest to increase business profitability and ensure food safety for the public." For up-to-date cold chain information and industry news, please visit www.deltatrak.com.

The new DeltaTRAK Waterproof Dishwasher Thermometer Kit (P/N: 12211) is designed specifically for checking temperatures inside commercial dishwashers. This kit comes with an accurate, application-proven Waterproof Lollipop Probe Digital Thermometer (P/N: 11036) and an improved waterproof, flexible plastic protective Heat Shield (P/N: 12208).

The Waterproof Lollipop Probe Thermometer has minimum and maximum memory features and records the lowest and highest temperature, between -58°F to 392°F (-50°C to 200°C) with ±1°F (±0.5°C), measured since the last reset. This instrument is ideal for verifying dishwasher and holding temperatures for HACCP compliance (see Table 1). The Waterproof Lollipop Probe Thermometer is NIST Traceable and CE marked.

The new plastic protective Heat Shield is made from temperature-stable, flexible plastic material and is colored red or easy identification and location both inside and outside dishwashers. It protects the Waterproof Lollipop Probe Thermometer's LCD display from overheating and turning black when the thermometer is used in consecutive dishwashing cycles.

Together the Waterproof Lollipop Probe Thermometer and the new plastic protective Heat Shield provide easy and long-lasting temperature measurement in HACCP-conforming dishwashing and holding applications.

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