Food Microbiology: A Case in Point#1

Nearly 200 passengers who had been on an excursion bus that travelled through the South (Mindanao)
experienced foodborne illness on June 14 and 15. At least 55 people went to the hospital. The bus had
stopped to pick up box lunches prepared by a local restaurant. An analysis of the outbreak implicated
the ham in the lunches as the food most likely to have transmitted the microorganisms that caused the
illness.

An investigation showed that on June 11, three days before the lunches were served, 40 hams
were delivered to the restaurant and stored in an improperly operating walk-in refrigerator. The next
day, June 12, the hams were deboned, cooked, and sliced. Then the hams were cooled but their
temperatures were not measured. The slices were refrigerated until the morning of June 14, when the
ham portions were boxed with other food for the lunch. The boxes were closed and delivered to the bus
station. The box lunches has been unrefrigerated for three hours before being distributed to the
passengers.

All of the ill passengers had eaten lunches containing ham, baked beans, potato salad, rolls, and
coffee or tea. A sample from the ham eaten by the passengers was tested, and harmful bacteria in
sufficient numbers to cause the illness were identified. A fingernail culture of a food handler yielded
bacteria identical to that found in the implicated ham.

Questions:

1. What do you think happen here?

2. What are the benefits of serving safe food?
3. What a leader in the foodservice industry needs to know about food safety?