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2 key things we learned about unsafe food prep at restaurants

Food safety managers met with restaurant managers Monday in Charlotte to talk about the safety of the food you buy. We learned about two risks factors for unsafe food prep that could make you sick.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Food safety managers met with restaurant managers Monday in Charlotte to talk about the safety of the food you buy.

Consumer investigator Bill McGinty talks about food safety every week in the Restaurant Report Card, highlighting the top three and bottom three restaurant inspection scores in Mecklenburg County.

Why is food safety so important? Look no further than the national headlines and current events. More than 200 million eggs were recalled over fears of salmonella and the CDC urged everyone to throw away bagged lettuce because of E.coli concerns.

"A food safety summit may sound governmental and boring, but it’s not. It’s about relationship building between health inspectors and restaurant managers," McGinty said.

Over the last two years, McGinty has shown stomach wrenching photos of unsanitary food prep in some Mecklenburg county kitchens from raw foods, to dirty conditions to slimy pick and black ice machines.

Here are two important things learned at the food safety meeting Monday:

  1. Temperature is so important. Cold has to be cold and hot has to be hot. For example, a burger, safe to eat means cooked to 155-160 degrees, and no, you don’t have to kill that taste, and yes, it can still be that hot and pink inside.
  2. Too many food prep workers come to work sick. It’s one reason 30,000 people a year get sick from food related illnesses.

Amy Michelone, a Food Safety Educator and Inspector, says those are two risks factors for unsafe food prep.

The Mecklenburg County Health Department tells NBC Charlotte “Mecklenburg County’s Food and Facilities Sanitation Program is responsible for ensuring restaurant operators incorporate good food handling practices necessary to protect public health. As part of the Public Health Department, program staff issue permits for operation, provide guidance on safe food handling practices, and conduct over 11,000 facility inspections per year at more than 3900 food service facilities that operate in the County.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that one in six Americans become ill by consuming contaminated foods or beverages. In 2014, more than 13,000 people in the U.S. contracted a foodborne illness leading to 212 deaths.

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