Food Safety News – December 2011

The Unwanted Christmas Gift – Norovirus!

With the Festive Season soon to be upon us, Christmas parties, family get togethers and Christmas lunches will be hopefully see an increase in trade for restaurants and bars.

With the increased trade and the time of year, a number of hazards are waiting to cause problems such as Norovirus.

Noroviruses are a group of viruses that are the most common cause of gastroenteritis in England and Wales. In the past, Noroviruses have also been called ‘winter vomiting viruses’, ‘small round structured viruses’ or ‘Norwalk-like viruses’.

Norovirus often causes outbreaks because it is easily spread from one person to another and the virus is able to survive in the environment for many days.

 The virus is easily transmitted from one person to another. It can be transmitted by contact with an infected person; by consuming contaminated food or water or by contact with contaminated surfaces or objects. The infectious dose is very low, swallowing as few as 10 - 100 virus particles may be enough to cause illness.
Therefore it is very important to ensure that any incidences of vomiting are cleaned up quickly and effectively, also that any staff that are ill are excluded from work.

The symptoms are nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea.  Symptoms often start with the sudden onset of nausea followed by projectile vomiting and watery diarrhoea.  Symptoms usually begin around 12 to 48 hours after becoming infected. Most people make a full recovery within 1-2 days; however vulnerable groups such as the elderly may become very dehydrated and require hospital treatment.

How can these outbreaks be stopped?

The most effective way to respond to an outbreak is to institute good hygiene measures such as strict adherence to hand-washing especially when handling food, after contact with infected people, and after using the toilet; disinfecting contaminated areas promptly; not allowing infected people to prepare food until 48 hours after symptoms have ended.

Tips to help stop the virus spreading:

• Wash your hands frequently and thoroughly with soap and water, particularly after using the toilet and before preparing food.
• Do not share towels.
• Disinfect any surfaces or objects that could be contaminated with the virus. It is best to use a bleach-based or anti-viral cleaner.
• Wash any clothing or towels that could have become contaminated with the virus, this is very important for staff that have cleaned up an incident. Wash the items separately and on a hot wash to ensure that the virus is killed.
• Flush away any infected faeces or vomit in the toilet and clean the surrounding toilet area.
• Avoid eating raw, unwashed produce and only eat oysters from a reliable source. Oysters have been known to carry the Norovirus.

If you have Norovirus, avoid direct contact with other people, and preparing food for others, until at least 48 hours after your symptoms have ended. You may still be contagious, even though you no longer have sickness or diarrhoea.
Cleaning

Cleaning and disinfection is the single most important factor in preventing the spread of the virus and if carried out effectively it should reduce the risk of further spread of infection.

Ensure a dedicated team is readily available to deal with incidents involving vomit and faeces. Ensure the “cleaning team” of trained cleaning staff is on hand at very short notice, it may be necessary to commandeer staff to deal with incidents to avoid the spread of infection to other customers.  Spill-kits or bio-hazard kits are often used for this purpose.

Cleaning Facilities

A cleaning sink with hot and cold water should be designated for the exclusive use of ‘cleaning team’. It must NOT be within any food preparation area.

Changing/Washing Facilities

Designate specific changing and washing facilities for cleaning staff, including hot and cold water, liquid bactericidal soap, a nailbrush and paper towels. They should not enter food preparation areas whilst dealing with an incident.

Toilet Facilities

These should be cleaned and disinfected regularly. The basins should have hot and cold running water, soap (ideally anti-bacterial and/or anti-viral) and hygienic drying facilities. This applies to both the customer and staff toilets.

Cleaning Equipment and Supplies

Ensure your supplies of cleaning equipment and cleaning chemicals are adequate. Where necessary, ensure that it is thoroughly cleaned, disinfected and stored in a dry condition.

Equipment needed could include:

• Hypochlorite solution e.g. bleach or virucidal multi-purpose cleaner
• Disposable paper towels
• Plastic scrapers/ Dust pans
• Detergent
• Disposable cloths
• Disposable mop heads
• Buckets
• Bag tags

Ideally have a decontamination kit purely for dealing with incidents of vomit and faeces.

Due Diligence

It is important that as part of your due diligence defence that you record incidents when a customer has been ill on the premises. As customers may not be aware of the difference between viral and bacterial food poisoning.

The details should include name, address (if they give it) of the customer, where on the premises the incident took place and where the customer was sitting (as diners nearby may have been exposed to the virus. What was done, who cleaned up any vomit or faeces, whether any staff were ill and hopefully you can confirm that they were excluded from work.

This is an addition to your usually records regarding food deliveries, storage, cooking, and general cleaning.