Red Robin is in the news for a completely avoidable food safety situation. To date there have been 3 confirmed cases of E. Coli at one of their Colorado locations. One adult and two children have been infected. Two of the three have been hospitalized.
A link to the full NRN article is below, but here are some quick takeaways:
- Inspectors found critical violations including improper employee handwashing, improper cleaning and sanitizing of food preparation surfaces, and cross-contamination between raw meats and other prepared foods
- Totally avoidable by Implementing a Food Safety Management System (FSMS) with daily Active Managerial Control (AMC)
- Red Robin closed the restaurant voluntarily the next day conduct a thorough cleaning and provide food safety training for the employees
- The problem here is that half the people they trained were gone the next week. Training adds absolutely zero value without processes and job aides in place to enforce behavior change ongoing.
- Red Robin stated ” We maintain rigorous food safety standards and procedures nationwide, which comply with the most recent FDA Food Code.”
- This tells us one of two things: Either the Food Code is a joke or, the more likely scenario, Red Robin has procedures in place, but there’s no accountability system in place to ensure the procedures are being followed every shift, every day at every location.
This is a dangerous situation for Red Robin. With the way bad news travels these days this won’t only affect this one Colorado location. This will affect performance at every location. Not sure that Red Robin has the brand power to withstand these types issues. They’re a Colorado company, but they’re not Chipotle (I do realize they aren’t Colorado any more).
This incident is just another reason why digital food safety records need to be mandated. It’s too easy to fake your way through the procedures when it’s filled out on paper.
As promised click here to read the full NRN article.