The Food and Drug Administration has released a 54-page report on the Occurrence of Foodborne Illness Risk Factors in Retail Food Store Delis.
The report includes findings from data collection from 2019-2022 and is part of the agency’s efforts to reduce foodborne illnesses, which have an annual economic burden of $90.2 billion.
The delis used in the study were randomly selected. Key findings noted in the report include:
- Delis that had a Certified Food Protection Manager (CFPM) who was the person in charge at the time of the data collect had significantly better food safety management system (FSMS) scores than those that did not have a CFPM; and
- Having a well-developed FSMS was the strongest predictor that risk factors would be minimized;
- The two most commonly occurring out of compliance risk factors were improper holding time and temperature, and poor personal hygiene; and
- The least commonly out of compliance risk factor was inadequate cooking.
The retail segment of the food industry employs 6 million workers and represents a combined annual sales volume of almost $800 billion, according to the report. At the time of the data collection for the report, there were 78,919 retail food store establishments in the contiguous United States.
According to the FDA, the National Retail Food Risk Factor Study aims to observe behaviors across different segments of the retail food industry such as restaurants and delis to identify which foodborne illness risk factors are most out of control.
According to the CDC, when considering incidents in 2017, retail food stores accounted for 21 outbreaks.
For the purposes of the report, delis were observed across the United States. Delis are described as “areas in a retail food store where foods, such as luncheon meats and cheeses, are sliced for the customers and where sandwiches and salads are prepared on-site or received from a commissary in bulk containers, portioned, and displayed…”
“These delis are unique in that they must reside in a retail food store (grocery store) and may have multiple regulatory authorities, whereas stand-alone delis are regulated solely by the U.S.Department of Agriculture,” according to the report.
Delis have unique storage, handling, and service risks and opportunities. Most deli foods are ready-to-eat and receive no subsequent kill step for food safety such as cooking. The report states that a key food safety consideration in delis is to maintain good personal hygiene such as washing hands and no bare hand contact with ready-to-eat food.
The FDA report cites surveillance data from the CDC, which consistently identifies five major risk factors related to food safety practices within the retail food industry that contribute to foodborne illness. Most regulatory retail food inspection programs throughout the United States monitor these risk factors in their routine inspections, and each necessitates specific food safety behaviors and practices to control the risks. These risk factors are:
• Poor personal hygiene
• Improper food holding/time and temperature
• Contaminated equipment/protection from contamination
• Inadequate cooking
- Food obtained from unsafe sources
To read the full report, click here.
