Name:___________________________ Date:___________ Section:_______________

Risk Management as Applied to Safety, Security and Sanitation

Case Study #1 : Fourteen people became ill after eating pie that had been highly contaminated
with Salmonella enteriditis. Several of the victim were hospitalized, and a man in his forties, who
was otherwise in good health, died as a result of the foodborne illness.
In this outbreak, cream. Custard, and meringue pies were made using ingredients from shell eggs.
The pies were baked in a restaurant bakery and were stored for 2-1/2 hours in a walk-in cooler
before being transported in the trunk of a car to a private company outing. The pies were
consumed three to six hours later. Leftover pie was consumed later that evening and the next
day after having been kept unrefrigerated for as long as 21 hours.
Question: 1. What conditions may have promoted bacterial growth?

Case Study #2 : Bruce, the morning prep cook at a local restaurant, was preparing shredded
cheese to be used on pizza. His procedure included cutting the cheese into small blocks and then
shredding the cheese by hand. He prepared several 4-gallon containers and left the containers
out at room temperature (70F (21C)) until use. Three of the 4 containers were used on pizzas
later that day. The next day, the fourth container of cheese was used. On both days, the pizzas
were cooked in an oven set to 500F (260C).
Four days later, several people came back to the restaurant and said that they had become ill a
few hours after eating pizza there. Only people who ate pizza on the second day appeared to
become ill.
Questions: 1. What foodborne hazard may have been associated with this foodborne
illness?
2.How could this have been prevented?

Case Study #3: Michelle is in charge of all the cold salad preparation at a local hotel restaurant.
Her main responsibility is to prepare green salads for the evening meal. When she arrived at work
one day, the food manager on duty noticed that she was coughing and sneezing frequently.
Michelle also indicated that she was battling a case of the flu.
Question: 1. How should the food manager handle this situation?

Case Study #4 : Metro Market is a combination convenience store and delicatessen. Deliveries
are received between 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. Store employees are
frequently too busy to check the deliveries in and transfer products to approved storage facilities
during the noon rush. Therefore, food and non-food items are held in a secured area off the
receiving dock until someone is available to process them.
Questions: 1. What food safety hazards exist at Metro Market?
2. If you were manager of Metro Market, what would you do to improve
receiving and storage activities?

Case Study #5 : A Shiga toxin-producing E.coli outbreak at a restaurant in Boise, Idaho, was
traced to romaine lettuce used in salad. Thirteen confirmed and 8 probable cases of the illness
were reported during the outbreak. While 1 person who was ill required hospitalization, none
experienced serious complications from their illness.
All of the victims had eaten at the same restaurant and 95% of them had eaten
the same meal- a chicken Caesar salad. Any suspicions that the outbreak may have been caused
by cross contamination between beef and chicken were ruled out when it was learned that beef
products were prepared on one side of the kitchen and chicken on the other. In addition, food
workers were responsible for working with either beef or chicken but not both.
Romaine lettuce turned out to be the cause of the outbreak. Investigators tracked
the lettuce back to its source and determined that contamination had occurred at the restaurant.
Sophisticated blood analysis showed that some food workers at the restaurant had been
previously infected by Shiga toxin-producing E. coli bacteria. IT was learned that 1 food worker
had been shedding Shiga toxin-producing E. coli bacteria for several days.
Questions: How could this situation have been prevented?
Case Study #6: The O.K. Corral Restaurant is a buffet style operation that offers customers a
choice of roast beef, ham , or turkey in addition to several hot vegetables. The meat and poultry
on the buffet are placed on wooden cutting boards and are carved in the dining room in front of
the customers. The temperature of the meat of the poultry is out of the danger zone when it
leaves in the kitchen. However, no effort is made to keep these products hot once they reach the
dining room. The carver periodically wipes his carving utensils with a damp kitchen towel.
Questions: 1. What food safety risks exist at O.K. Corral?
2. What steps should the manager take to correct the food safety problems that
exist in the facility.

Case Study #7: On a Sunday morning, the food manager of the Shady Rest Long-term care facility
noticed that the mechanical dishwasher was not producing water hot enough to properly sanitize
equipment and utensils that were being run through the machine. It was not possible to get
someone to repair the machine until first thing Monday morning.
1.How should the Facility wash and sanitize dishes until the dishwasher is fixed?
2.Are there other alternatives that might be used in the interim?
3.Do you think the food service should be suspended at the facility until the
machine is repaired? Why or why not?

Case Study #8: Ryan’s Hamburgers is a small restaurant that specializes in hamburgers and tacos.
A prep cook at Ryan’s was recently diagnosed with Hepatitis A virus. As a result, several
employees and customers were required to be immunized against the disease. An inspection by
the local health department revealed that the handwashing lavatory in the food prep are at
Ryan’s was out of service. The only lavatories available to employees on duty were the ones in
the restrooms.
1. Does the handwashing situation at Ryan’s pose a health risk for customers?
How?
2. What action should the local health department take against Ryan’s?
3. What action should the owner/operator of Ryan’s take to prevent a similar
incident in the future?
4. What are some of the likely effects this episode will have on Ryan’s
restaurant?

Case Study #9: As a new employee was refilling the deep fat fryer, some excess cooking oil
spilled onto the floor. Later that morning, the fry cook fell due to the slippery floor. After the
fall, the cook was still in severe pain and was unable to return to work.
1. Why did this accident happen?
2. How can you help the cook?
3. How can you prevent future falls like this one?

Case Study #10: Inspector Jones arrives at Don’s food establishment for the quarterly
inspection. Don is really busy and tells Mr. Jones to go ahead. When Mr. Jones returns with the
results of the inspection, Jon is surprised. Mr. Jones has noted that the sanitizer dispenser in
the chemical dishwasher is broken.
1. What should Don do?