Activities protected by the National Labor Relations Act.
- The NLRA permits employees, unionized or not, to engage in a concerted activity,
which is any activity for the purpose of organizing a union or collective bargaining
or other protection. The use of e-mail can constitute a concerted activity, and
employees should not be disciplined for such activities.
- E-mail messages may be classified as solicitations, not distributions, and
the more relaxed rules may apply.
- The NLRA provides interrogation of employees regarding union involvement -
this includes interrogation.
Civil rights lawsuits.
- When an employee files a lawsuit against an employer, the employer will be
forced to turn over all documents or other records which are relevant or may be
relevant to the employee's allegations or the employer's defenses to those allegations.
This means that e-mail messages or Internet information is maintained on a system
hard drive by the employer, the employer will have to turn over any relevant information
stored on the hard drive, most often in the form of hard copy.
- Complaints of harassment sent via e-mail should be treated as complaints.
The complainant should be questioned and a complete investigation should be conducted.
- The use of e-mail has made it more difficult to stop harassment at the early
stages, since it can travel so quickly and reach a large number of people in a
matter of seconds.
- What may seem like a joke in person, can be taken out of context on e-mail,
creating more risks in the harassment context. Also, printed e-mail messages provide
a negative impression before a jury, because they look like letters.
Employers Need to Protect Proprietary Information.
The Consumer Fraud and Abuse Act, 18 U.S.C. 1030 (CFAA), as well as other common
law torts, protect employers from loss of proprietary information contained on
computer systems, but employers must take steps to protect the confidentiality
of this information.
All of the above information was provided by:
Kimberley J. Mathis, Esq.
Law Firm - Blackwell Sanders Peper Martin LLP
Food Safety
Food and Drug Administration Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition
Managing Food Safety:
A HACCP Principles Guide for Operators of Food Establishments at the Retail Level
THE FLOW OF FOOD
The flow of food, which is the path that food follows from receiving through serving,
is important for determining where potentially significant food safety hazards
may occur. At each operational step in the flow, active management of food preparation
and processes is an essential part of business operations. With a HACCP system,
you set up control measures to protect food at each stage in the process.
The illustrations of food processes listed below are not intended to be all
inclusive. For instance, quick-service, full-service, and institutional providers
are major types of food service operations. Each of these has it's own individual
food safety processes. These processes are likely to be different from a deli
in a retail food store.
Some operations may have all three types of processes or variations of the
three. Identifying the food process flows specific to your operation is an important
part of providing a framework for developing a food safety management system
FOOD PROCESS WITH NO COOK STEP
RECEIVE--STORE--PREPARE--HOLD--SERVE
As mentioned in the Introduction, the important feature of this type of process
is the absence of a cooking step. Heating foods destroys bacteria, parasites,
and viruses, and is often a CCP. But since this particular food flow does not
include cooking, there is no step that will eliminate or kill bacteria, parasites,
or viruses. An example is tuna salad that is prepared and served cold. Control
in this process will focus on preventing:
a. bacterial growth (e.g., storage under refrigeration),
b. contamination from employees (e.g., restriction of employees ill with diarrhea,
proper handwashing, preventing bare hand contact with ready-to-eat foods, etc.),
c. cross-contamination from other foods (e.g., raw to ready-to-eat),
d. cross-contamination from soiled equipment (e.g., cleaning and sanitizing),
and
e. obtaining foods from approved sources (e.g., a supplier of raw fish for sushi
who adequately **freezes fish to control parasites).
You should also think about some other factors.
f. Are there any ingredients or menu items of special concern, such as those listed
in Annex 2?
g. Is this a potentially hazardous food requiring specific temperature controls?
h. How will it be served? Immediately? On a buffet?
i. Does this food have a history of being associated with illnesses?
j. Will this require a great deal of preparation, making preparation time, employee
health, and **bare hand contact with ready-to-eat food a special concern?
k. How will an employee ill with diarrhea be restricted from working with food?
l. Are you serving food to a population that is known to be highly susceptible
to foodborne illness (e.g., residents of health care facilities, persons in child
or adult day care facilities, etc.)?
FOOD PREPARATION FOR SAME DAY SERVICE
RECEIVE--STORE--PREPARE--COOK--HOLD--SERVE
In this process, a food is prepared and served the same day. The food will be
cooked and held hot until service, such as chili. Generally, the food will pass
through the temperature danger zone only once before it is served to the customer,
thus minimizing the opportunity for bacterial growth.
The preparation step may involve several processes, including thawing a frozen
food, mixing in other ingredients, or cutting or chopping. It is important to
remember that added ingredients may introduce additional contaminants to the food.
Cutting or chopping must be done carefully so that cross contamination from cutting
boards, utensils, aprons, or hands does not occur. Control points at this operational
step include good sanitation and handwashing.
During cooking, food will be subjected to hot temperatures that will kill most
harmful bacteria, parasites, and viruses that might be introduced before cooking,
making cooking a CCP. It is the operational step where raw animal foods are made
safe to eat, and therefore, time and temperature measurement is very important.
Temperature of foods during hot holding must be maintained until service so that
harmful bacteria do not survive and grow.
COMPLEX PROCESSES
RECEIVE--STORE--PREPARE--COOK--COOL--REHEAT--HOT HOLD--SERVE
Failure to adequately control food product temperature is the one factor most
commonly associated with foodborne illness. Foods prepared in large volumes or
in advance for next day service usually follow an extended process flow. These
foods are likely to pass through the temperature danger zone several times. The
key in managing the operational steps within the process is to minimize the time
foods are at unsafe temperatures.
In some cases, a variety of foods and ingredients that require extensive employee
product preparation may be part of the process. A sound food safety management
system will incorporate SOPs for personal hygiene and cross contamination prevention
throughout the flow of the food.
Before you set up a management system for your operational steps, there are
several factors you should consider. Multiple step processes require proper equipment
and facilities. Your equipment needs to be designed to handle the volume of food
you plan to prepare. For example, if you use a process that requires the cooling
of hot food, you must provide equipment that will adequately and efficiently lower
the food temperature as quickly as possible. If you find that a recipe is too
hard to safely prepare, you may want to consider purchasing pre-prepared items
from a reputable source.
Below is a glossary of HACCP terminology, that may be helpful. These terms
will be present in future editions of our newsletter.
Approved source means acceptable to the regulatory authority based on a determination
of conformity with principles, practices, and generally recognized standards that
protect public health.
Bacteria means living single-cell organisms. Bacteria can be carried by water,
wind, insects, plants, animals, and people and survive well on skin and clothes
and in human hair. They also thrive in scabs, scars, the mouth, nose, throat,
intestines, and room-temperature foods.
CCP means Critical Control Point.
Contamination means the unintended presence in food of potentially harmful
substances, including microorganisms, chemicals, and physical objects.
Cross contamination means the transfer of harmful substances or disease-causing
microorganisms to food by hands, food-contact surfaces, sponges, cloth towels
and utensils that touch raw food, are not cleaned, and then touch ready-to-eat
foods. Cross contamination can also occur when raw food touches or drips onto
cooked or ready-to-eat foods.
Corrective action means an activity that is taken by a person whenever a critical
limit is not met.
Critical Control Point (CCP) means an operational step or procedure in a process,
production method, or recipe, at which control can be applied to prevent, reduce,
or eliminate a food safety hazard.
Critical Limit means a measurable limit at a CCP that can be monitored to control
the identified hazard to a safe level in the food.
Fish.
a. means fresh or saltwater finfish, crustaceans and other forms of aquatic
life (including alligator, frog, aquatic turtle, jellyfish, sea cucumber, and
sea urchin and the roe of such animals) other than birds or mammals, and all mollusks,
if such life is intended for human consumption.
b. includes an edible human food product derived in whole or in part from fish,
including fish that *have been processed in any manner.
Food means raw, cooked, or processed edible substance, ice, beverage, chewing
gum, or ingredient used or intended for use or for sale in whole or in part for
human consumption.
Food establishment means an operation at the retail level, i.e., that serves
or offers food directly to the consumer and that, in some cases, includes a production,
storage, or distributing operation that supplies the direct-to-consumer operation.
Foodborne Illness means sickness resulting from acquiring a disease that is
carried or transmitted to humans by food containing harmful substances.
Foodborne outbreak means the occurrence of two or more people experiencing
the same illness after eating the same food.
HACCP means Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points.
HACCP plan means a written document which is based on the principles of HACCP
and which describes the procedures to be followed to ensure the control of a specific
process or procedure.
HACCP system means the result of implementing the HACCP principles in an operation
that has a foundational, comprehensive, prerequisite program in place. A HACCP
system includes the HACCP plan and all SOPs.
Hazard means a biological, physical, or chemical property that may cause a
food to be unsafe for human consumption.
Internal temperature means the temperature of the internal portion of a food
product.
Meat means the flesh of animals used as food including the dressed flesh of
cattle, swine, sheep, or goats and other edible animals, except fish, poultry,
and wild game animals.
Microorganism means a form of life that can be seen only with a microscope;
including bacteria, viruses, yeast, and single-celled animals.
Molluscan shellfish means any edible species of raw fresh or frozen oysters,
clams, mussels, and scallops or edible portions thereof, except when the scallop
product consists only of the shucked adductor muscle.
Monitoring means the act of observing and making measurements to help determine
if critical limits are being met and maintained.
National Shellfish Sanitation Program (NSSP) means the voluntary system by
which regulatory authorities for shellfish harvesting waters and shellfish processing
and transportation and the shellfish industry implement specified controls to
ensure that raw and frozen shellfish are safe for human consumption.
NSSP means National Shellfish Sanitation Program.
Operational step means an activity in a food establishment, such as receiving,
storage, preparation, cooking, etc.
Parasite means an organism that grows, feeds, and is sheltered on or in a different
organism and contributes to its host.
Pathogen means a microorganism (bacteria, parasites, viruses, or fungi) that
is infectious and causes disease.
Personal hygiene means individual cleanliness and habits.
Potentially Hazardous Food.
Potentially hazardous food means a food that is natural or synthetic and that
requires temperature control because it is capable of supporting:
a. the rapid and progressive growth of infectious or toxigenic microorganisms,
b. the growth and toxin production of Clostridium botulinum, or
c. in raw shell eggs, the growth of Salmonella Enteritidis.
Potentially hazardous food includes foods of animal origin that are raw or
heat-treated; foods of plant origin that are heat-treated or consists of raw seed
sprouts; cut melons; and garlic and oil mixtures that are not acidified or otherwise
modified at a processing plant in a way that results in mixtures that do not support
growth of pathogenic microorganisms as described above.
Procedural step means an individual activity in applying this Guide to a food
establishment's operations.
Process approach means a method of categorizing food operations into one of three
modes:
a. Process number one: Food preparation with no cook step wherein ready-to-eat
food is stored, prepared, and served;
b. Process number two: Food preparation for same day service wherein food is stored,
prepared, cooked, and served; or
c. Process number three: Complex food preparation wherein food is stored, prepared,
cooked, cooled, reheated, hot held, and served.
Ready-to-Eat Food.
Ready-to-eat food means a food that is in a form that is edible without washing,
cooking, or additional preparation by the food establishment or consumer and that
is reasonably expected to be consumed in that form.
Ready-to-eat food includes potentially hazardous food that has been cooked;
raw, washed, cut fruits and vegetables; whole, raw, fruits and vegetables that
are presented for consumption without the need for further washing, such as at
a buffet; and other food presented for consumption for which further washing or
cooking is not required and from which rinds, peels, husks, or shells have been
removed.
Record means a documentation of monitoring observation and verification activities.
Regulatory authority means a federal, state, local, or tribal enforcement body
or authorized representative having jurisdiction over the food establishment.
Risk means an estimate of the likely occurrence of a hazard.
SOP means Standard Operating Procedure.
Shellfish means bi-valve molluscan shellfish.
Standard operating procedure (SOP) means a written method of controlling a
practice in accordance with predetermined specifications to obtain a desired outcome.
Temperature measuring device means a thermometer, thermocouple, thermistor,
or other device for measuring the temperature of food, air, or water.
Toxin means a poisonous substance that may be found in food.
Verification means the use of methods, procedures, or tests by supervisors,
designated personnel, or regulators to determine if the food safety system based
on the HACCP principles is working to control identified hazards or if modifications
need to be made.
Virus means a protein-wrapped genetic material which is the smallest and simplest
life-form known, such as hepatitis A.
