Dirty dining out

by Phil Lempert

Americans love to eat out — you spend lots of time thinking about the type of food, ambiance, price and the hip places to chow down. But how can you tell if the restaurant you're about to dine at is actually sanitary? Do you bring your own silverware? Plates? Or do you avoid the entire eating-out process altogether? Food expert Phil Lempert dishes the dirt on what to look for when dining out.

IF YOU ARE like most Americans, you give little thought to a restaurant's food safety practices. And it is easy to understand why — after all, we are eating foods that are prepared by strangers usually behind closed doors. We have no idea if the restaurant employees are washing their hands, have diseases, or even received any food safety training.

Eating out is big business, employing 11 million people and generating sales of more than $350 billion. The restaurant industry's share of the public's stomach is considerable, with consumers over 8 years of age eating more than four meals per week away from home.

Coinciding with the industry's growth is a troubling fact: food-borne illness is a substantial problem in the United States. Each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are an estimated 76 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations, and 5,000 deaths in the United States from food-borne illness. Three pathogens, salmonella, listeria, and toxoplasma, are responsible for 1,500 deaths each year.

According to the CDC, almost 80 percent of those outbreaks are bacterial with improper holding temperature and poor personal hygiene of food handlers causing the most problems.

Here's my checklist to make sure that you make every dining experience as safe as possible:

CHECK OUT THE RESTAURANT
Many local newspapers list restaurant health inspections — or some cities, like Santa Monica, California, have mandatory "cleanliness" postings available.

INSPECT WHEN YOU GO IN
Chefs and health inspectors agree that a clean bathroom is usually an indicator of the rest of the restaurant — and when visiting a restaurant for the first time — it's the first place you should visit. Conversely, overflowing trash, stopped up drains, lack of hot water or soap in washrooms indicate that the restaurant isn't paying attention to fundamental cleanliness practices.

Look at the wait staff and if you can, the food handlers. Is their personal hygiene clean and neat? Remember that they are handling the food you are about to eat.

If the restaurant has refrigerated cases for sushi, meats, desserts or other foods, touch the outside to be sure it is cool and look inside to make sure the case is clean and the foods are separated from each other.

YOUR TABLE IS YOUR TEMPLE
Be sure that the servers and busboys who are wiping up tables are using clean paper towels and disinfectants. Soiled sponges and dirty rags are bacteria breeders.

Condiments should be in one-way serving containers such as squeeze bottles or in single-serve packages. Don't use common ketchup, mustard, or relish trays. Be sure that fresh oils and butters are brought to your table.

Plates, silverware, and glasses should be spotless and uncracked or chipped. If not, ask for replacements.

HOT FOODS HOT AND COLD FOODS COLD
According to the CDC and the National Restaurant Association, the number one cause of food illness is inadequate temperature control.

Be sure to order your foods cooked properly and avoid raw foods like steak tartare, Caesar salads made with raw eggs, or clams and oysters.

Inspect your food carefully before you bite: avoid meats that are blood-red or rare, chicken that is pink or bloody, eggs that are runny, shellfish that doesn't have the shell open or fish that doesn't flake to the fork.

Don't be shy — send it back to the kitchen to be recooked. Be sure that the other foods on the plate — like rice, greens, or veggies — are replaced. Cross contamination between undercooked foods is a major source of food illness.

CURB YOUR OWN DOGGIE BAGS
No one wants to waste food — and everyone loves his or her doggie bags. But be sure the food is packaged properly — in separate sealed containers — and get it under refrigeration within one hour. Otherwise, ask the restaurant if they can pack some crushed ice in a plastic bag for you and place it next to the food. Always reheat the foods to the proper temperature before consuming.

For fast food aficionados, here's what I do: always order your sandwich "your way" — that way you can be assured that the food you get is freshly made and hasn't been sitting under heating elements beyond the proper time or with mayo-based sauces not being served at the right temperature.

IF THE RESTAURANT DOESN'T MEET THESE STANDARDS — WALK OUT
Calculating how many incidences of food-based illnesses occur at home and how many in commercial operations like restaurants, take-out and delis is difficult, but according to the National Restaurant Association about 40 percent are associated with eating out of the home. Accurate statistics are impossible, because many home-based food safety illnesses are never reported.

The Food and Drug Administration has the legal authority to impose standards on state and local jurisdictions. The Food Code, a set of rules updated by the FDA every two years, includes recommended temperatures for cooking, cooling, refrigeration, reheating, and holding food in food-service establishments. County or city governments are generally charged with responsibility for inspecting restaurants, and each state or locality has its own laws governing restaurant safety.

In November 1996, the Center for Science in the Public Interest conducted a survey of 45 agencies across the country to determine if state and local agencies were enforcing the 12 key food-safety standards in the FDA Food Code. The standards chosen for the study include such areas as food cooking and refrigeration temperatures, frequency of inspections, and consumer warnings for raw foods. Not one of the 45 agencies surveyed was following all of the Food Code recommendations.

This survey concluded that only 13 percent of agencies enforced the Food Code and recommended cooking temperatures for pork, eggs, fish and poultry; only 64 percent of the agencies required hamburgers to be cooked to 155 degrees Fahrenheit. Recommendations for cooling cooked food were followed by only 20 percent of the agencies and only 11 percent required refrigeration of food at FDA-recommended temperatures.

In 1998, the New York Times conducted a survey of street vendor locations and reported that out of 51 food samples 39 were undercooked; and that 40 percent of all vendors handled foods that could be hazardous. If you love street foods make sure the vendor's cart or stand is clean, that the foods are hot and that the vendor does not touch food directly with his or her hands.

So eat out and have a great meal — but eat first with your eyes — then with your mouth.

For more food safety information and smart food tips visit these Web sites:
Centers for Disease Control
National Restaurant Association
Partnership for Food Safety
Center for Science in the Public Interest
Or call the USDA Meat & Poultry Hotline at 800-535-4555.