Preventing Norovirus Outbreaks in Restaurants

Customers never order a salad with a side of norovirus, but it’s a common pairing when food service employees don’t practice proper hand hygiene. In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 70 percent of reported norovirus outbreaks are caused by infected food workers contaminating food. These outbreaks can be prevented by ensuring food service workers are educated on proper hand hygiene practices, avoid touching ready-to-eat foods before serving and stay home from work when they are sick.

Norovirus is highly contagious and can spread anywhere food is served, making people sick with vomiting and diarrhea. While sick, infected people shed billions of tiny viral particles and it only takes up to 18 to make another person sick. The CDC reported that about 20 million people get sick from norovirus each year. In addition to the risk of a norovirus outbreak, poor hand hygiene will lead to increased illness and can result in lost productivity, disruption…