The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that about 48 million people are affected by a form of foodborne illness every year. The food industry has created extensive standards for establishments to follow to prevent or reduce outbreaks, however, these standards haven’t always been put in place. In 1993, one of the largest foodborne illness outbreaks occurred in Washington State, Idaho and Nevada affecting 700 and killing four children. What was the common food that all of these children ate? A hamburger at a Jack in the Box restaurant.
Children started getting rushed to the hospital with severe bloody diarrhea and was diagnosed with Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS). HUS is associated with raw and undercooked ground beef or even …show more content…
Ken Dunkley, Jack in the Box’s VP of quality assurance, was responsible for overseeing all food products sold at Jack in the Box. One of the elements of Dunkley’s’ job is knowing whether or not the state raises the required minimum internal temperature for cooking food products, such as ground beef. Jack in the Box was still cooking their hamburger patties to minimum internal temperature of 140 degrees in 1993. However, on March 11, 1992, “the Washington Board of Health had adopted a new food service regulation: WAC246-215. It raised the minimum internal cooking temperature for ground beef to 155 degrees” (Jeff Benedict, 35, 2011). Later on, once the company gets sued for the outbreak by Bill Marler, attorney for the poisoned children, it was discovered that Jack in the Box was indeed informed of the new regulation. The company received two notices that were very detailed on the detailed and requirements for cooking ground beef. The notice not only mentioned new standards for cooking ground beef but also …show more content…
The terrible mistake that the group made was deciding to focus more on the areas in the document concerning chicken because salmonella was more common. Although, since a vast majority people had never heard of HUS until this outbreak occurred the thought of children contracting this illness never crossed any of their minds. When Dave Theno received the phone call from Bob Nugent asking for help and discussing the outbreak he knew that E. coli was an emerging disease in beef at the time. However, Dunkley shouldn’t be the only one who should take the blame for these documents. Bob Nugent, former President of Jack in the Box, is also to blame. He should know what’s going on in his business, and also, be responsible for knowing right away of any changes as well as keeping up with these changes and making sure everyone working for the company is doing their share of
Children started getting rushed to the hospital with severe bloody diarrhea and was diagnosed with Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS). HUS is associated with raw and undercooked ground beef or even …show more content…
Ken Dunkley, Jack in the Box’s VP of quality assurance, was responsible for overseeing all food products sold at Jack in the Box. One of the elements of Dunkley’s’ job is knowing whether or not the state raises the required minimum internal temperature for cooking food products, such as ground beef. Jack in the Box was still cooking their hamburger patties to minimum internal temperature of 140 degrees in 1993. However, on March 11, 1992, “the Washington Board of Health had adopted a new food service regulation: WAC246-215. It raised the minimum internal cooking temperature for ground beef to 155 degrees” (Jeff Benedict, 35, 2011). Later on, once the company gets sued for the outbreak by Bill Marler, attorney for the poisoned children, it was discovered that Jack in the Box was indeed informed of the new regulation. The company received two notices that were very detailed on the detailed and requirements for cooking ground beef. The notice not only mentioned new standards for cooking ground beef but also …show more content…
The terrible mistake that the group made was deciding to focus more on the areas in the document concerning chicken because salmonella was more common. Although, since a vast majority people had never heard of HUS until this outbreak occurred the thought of children contracting this illness never crossed any of their minds. When Dave Theno received the phone call from Bob Nugent asking for help and discussing the outbreak he knew that E. coli was an emerging disease in beef at the time. However, Dunkley shouldn’t be the only one who should take the blame for these documents. Bob Nugent, former President of Jack in the Box, is also to blame. He should know what’s going on in his business, and also, be responsible for knowing right away of any changes as well as keeping up with these changes and making sure everyone working for the company is doing their share of