May 23, 2005 Hello! How often do you eat food that you did not prepare yourself? Meals sold in restaurants, delis, and grocery stores are regulated to help keep the consumer safer. What about the food sold at the school bake sale? The food brought to the Memorial Day potluck? The snacks and drinks served at a friend's party? "Every state has
the authority to regulate food marketing activities, such as the
sale and preparation of food, in order to protect public health
and safety. Recently, questions have been raised whether this
regulatory authority should be extended to community food events.
The concern for local governments is the incidence of food-borne
disease -- more commonly referred to as 'food poisonings.'" If an outbreak is big enough, it will often make the local news. Most cases of foodborne illness do not make news, and many people do not know how common it is. "More than 250 foodborne
diseases have been described. Symptoms vary widely depending on
etiologic agent. Diarrhea and vomiting are the most common. ...
Estimated to cause 76 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations,
and 5,200 deaths in the United States each year. Known pathogens
account for an estimated 14 million illnesses, 60,000 hospitalizations,
and 1,800 deaths annually." So, when does a reported illness become an outbreak? "An outbreak of
foodborne illness occurs when a group of people consume the same
contaminated food and two or more of them come down with the same
illness. ... Often, a combination of events contributes to the
outbreak. A contaminated food may be left out a room temperature
for many hours, allowing the bacteria to multiply to high numbers,
and then be insufficiently cooked to kill the bacteria. ... Many
outbreaks are local in nature. They are recognized when a group
of people realize that they all became ill after a common meal,
and someone calls the local health department. This classic local
outbreak might follow a catered meal at a reception, a pot-luck
supper, or eating a meal at an understaffed restaurant on a particularly
busy day." The "catered meal at a reception" and the "understaffed restaurant" are both subject to health codes and regulations. The "pot-luck supper" is not. While potlucks are not regulated to the same extent as restaurants, different areas have their own rules and regulations that do apply. If the potluck is in parts of Arizona: "Potlucks in private
homes, churches and offices are not regulated by Community Health
Services. ... Any food service which is open to the general public
fall under our [Community Health Services] regulations. Because Health
Codes prohibit serving food to the public which is not produced
in a licensed commercial kitchen, the use of homemade foods at
a potluck held in a public facility is not allowed." When the issue came up in one county in Washington state: "[I]t was decided
that a potluck is an assumed risk and usually is confined to a
specific group who are accepting the risk. It is different if
the event is advertised to the public and they may be expected
to pay. The public expects the food to be safe." And after concerns that potlucks would be regulated to the point of extinction, the issue reached the state level in Illinois: "Thanks to legislation
introduced by Illinois State Sen. Dan Rutherford, R-Pontiac, the
health department raid on the church has been canceled. ... It
was a statewide fear of losing time-honored potlucks that led
Rutherford to propose S.B. 2944 and protect them from 'unnecessary
regulation.' ... 'The new law specifies that neither the Illinois
Department of Health, nor a local health department, can regulate
potluck dinners sponsored by a group of individuals or religious,
charitable, or non-profit organizations If the event is a free,
non-commercial gathering.' Rutherford described the legislation's
saving grace, 'Pot luck dinners are a community tradition that
should never have fallen under the broad scope of regulators.
Before this law, it was church potlucks and community senior settings
that were being shut down. Eventually, the neighborhood Super
Bowl party might have been targeted, because friends were bringing
in the hot wings.'" While the neighborhood Super Bowl party does not seem to be in jeopardy, the school bake sale has more regulations than one might think for those in Missoula County, Montana: "Food Service in
Missoula County... To qualify for a waiver, several conditions need to be met by those selling the food (vendors), and even bake sales are only allowed to sell certain foods under certain conditions. A few of these regulations
include: Questions of the Week: Please email me with any ideas or suggestions. I look forward to reading what you have to say. Cindy |
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