Let’s not play with our food: avoiding contamination in Texas

We’ve seen numerous reports about various outbreaks of Hepatitis A. What do they have in common? Food.

Not another one

Over the last five years, the Hepatitis A occurrences have proliferated. Among the incidents, several started with an infected restaurant employee handling food. Most recently, Starbucks found itself at the center of a potential outbreak in New Jersey. An employee tested positive for the virus after exposing potentially thousands of customers at the location, which averages around 600 patrons a day.

The highly contagious Hepatitis A infection affects the liver. It’s spread via contaminated food or water. Restaurant workers such as chefs, cooks, line prep workers, and waiters who are infected and fail to take precautions may easily transmit the virus onto food, dishes, utensils, and other surfaces touched and ingested by patrons. Once an individual is infected, there is no cure, but the disease is preventable with a vaccine.

Vaccinations

The best way to prevent Hepatitis A is by getting vaccinated before exposure, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC doesn’t specifically recommend the shots for food service workers because exposure is relatively rare and childhood vaccination is common. Because of the risk for food handlers to infect customers, however, some health departments do recommend they get the vaccines.