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FDA videos show restaurant workers 'real-life' consequences of foodborne illness

September 18, 2018

Restaurant leadership and frontline employees hear a lot about food safety prevention, but little is heard about the illnesses and even deaths that some diners face when food safety precautions break down at the restaurant level. This week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration released a series of videos for restaurant  training purposes that are designed to give restaurant workers an idea of how critical it is that they know and fastidiously follow food safety precautions. 

In five brief video testimonials with restaurant foodborne illness victims, foodservice employees get a compelling firsthand look at the possible, dire consequences of poor preparation practices, along with foodborne illness prevention tips from the federal organization that specializes in safe food consumption. 

The videos —each under 10 minutes — are well-produced vignettes that give restaurant employee-viewers an idea of how life-changing their actions and inaction on the job can be as it relates to food safety. The FDA suggests that employers use the free videos to play in break rooms or training sessions to familiarize workers with the often very severe consequences of irresponsible food safety practices on the job. 

The profiles range from thhat of a young, health-conscious California longshoremandebilitated by norovirus transmission from a food service employee to the death of an Athens, Ohio woman after nearly two months of suffering in the hospital, as told by her surviving family members. 

The so-called Oral Culture Learner Project is accessible to restaurant brands interested in using the videos as part of the FDA's foodservice training resources.