U. S. Food and Drug Administration
Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition
FDA Prime Connection

Restarnts Find Bottom-ln Benefits in Voluntary Pilot
 
 
 
 
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FN93-10         RESTAURANTS FIND BOTTOM-LINE         06/21/93
                 BENEFITS IN VOLUNTARY PILOT
 
 
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           3   3  Restaurants Find Bottom-line  3    :
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           3   3   Benefits in Pilot Voluntary  3    :
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           3   3   Seafood Inspection Program   3    :
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           3        reprinted with permission        :
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           3              June 7, 1993               :
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           3            Washington Weekly            :
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           3     National Restaurant Association     :
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           3         1200 Seventh Avenue, NW         :
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           3        Washington DC 20036-3097         :
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     At a May 25 meeting in Chicago, IL, restaurateurs and federal
food-safety regulators gave strong votes of confidence to a pilot
voluntary seafood inspection program for restaurants.
 
     The pilot inspection program, spawned last year by the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Commerce and the
National Restaurant Association, is part of a larger government
effort to improve seafood safety at all points of the seafood
chain, including processors and grocery stores, as well as
restaurants.
 
     Twelve restaurants volunteered last fall to work with FDA and
the Commerce Department to identify "critical control points" in
their seafood handling and come up with ways to reduce the risk of
contamination at these points.
 
     While admitting a bit of initial uneasiness about inviting
regulators into their establishments and having to deal with
additional paperwork and training, Dick Hughes, owner of Pier 11
Restaurant in Astoria, OR, and Margaret Sharp, quality assurance
manager for the southeast division of Long John Silver's, said May
25 that they are generally very pleased with the pilot seafood
inspection program.
 
     Hughes reported that his restaurant has practically eliminated
spoilage losses and seen an improvement in the quality of its menu
items as a result of increased monitoring of its seafood.
 
     Sharp added that voluntary inspection has helped Long John
Silver's protect its customers and its reputation by reducing the
risk of foodborne illness outbreaks.
 
     FDA's Larry Edwards also noted that the program has helped
food safety regulators focus more sharply on the food-handling
process in restaurants, thereby increasing safety for the consumer.
 
     Hughes and Sharp both praised the pilot program for easing the
often adversarial relationship between inspectors and restaurants
and helping them work as partners to reduce risks. "This program
gives us the opportunity to say, `Hey, this doesn't work for us,"'
explained Hughes. "We can tell them what really works in our
restaurants without them telling us from behind some desk what we
should do."
 
     All 12 restaurants participating in the pilot program are
scheduled to convene in Washington, DC, next month with FDA and the
Commerce Department to critique the program. FDA and the Commerce
Department will use the results to develop a voluntary seafood
inspection system that is expected to be available to restaurants
nationwide by 1994.