food safety

Operations

CAL, EPA Paint Facilities 'Green'

The University of California at Berkeley and the government office complex for the EPA show others how easy it is to make foodservice environmentally friendly. By "greening" their business, these two operations are striving to make a big impact on the environment.

Operations

Institute prescribes fix for hospital food

Hospital foodservice operations can and should improve their menu offerings in a manner that both supports local agriculture and sets an example for consumers to follow, according to a report released last month by Occidental College's Urban and Environmental Policy Institute (UEPI) and the Center for Food and Justice.

Talking about the "cutting edge" in hand washing sounds almost comical. True, there is an increasing number and variety of devices that can assist in the process, and newer, better gloves that can bolster those efforts.

Try it yourself. Tell someone in the industry you're shopping for a slicer, and ask for his advice. Dollars to doughnuts, the first words out of his mouth will have to do with—and may even include the word itself—safety.

Some manufacturers would argue sarcastically that the newest thing to happen to refrigeration would be operators taking the time to use their units properly. Keeping refrigerator units humming isn't difficult; it just takes some extra attention.

Food safety consultant G. Peter Healy urges operators to educate themselves and their employees about the potential dangers of not handling and preparing seafood properly.

High-fat diets are associated with an increased incidence of obesity, heart disease, hypertension, cancer, diabetes and gallbladder disease. So government agencies and health professionals recommend reduced intake of total fat (30% or less of total calories) and saturated fat (10% or less of total calories).

While some Federal health officials in Washington continue to warn against the risks posed by foods with high levels of fat, sodium or cholesterol, others are sounding the alert about new dangers associated with some of the most nutritionally elite foods.

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