Sodexho safety up to par
Internal study shows food service meets safety requirements
By Kami Lewis
Staff Reporter

Sodexho food services passed an internal audit of food safety with a score of 91 out of 100, said Rick Flores, general manager of Food Services.

“The passing score for the Tarrant County Health Authority is 75, but for Sodexho the minimum is 85,” Flores said. “It’s a measure of Sodexho’s commitment to food safety that they raised the standards within the company nationwide.”

The February audit reviewed food safety records with the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point, a system adopted by Sodexho to track food as it is prepared, Flores said.

Flores said HACCP was originally designed as a program to make sure food the astronauts were served was completely safe and has slowly been accepted as an industry standard.

“It tracks food all the way from the farm or slaughterhouse to the vendor until it comes in our door,” he said.

Once the food is on site, the temperature is monitored and recorded as it is prepared during each shift, Flores said. The records are kept for one year in the event there is ever a problem concerning food safety, he said.

Flores said points were deducted for training verification records that were not available, a log for calibrating thermometers that wasn’t updated and an improper sanitizer level in a bucket used for washing off tables in The Main.

Flores said he is happy with the results of the audit.

“The score shows that we have concerned and well-trained employees who have safety on the forefront of their minds,” Flores said. “Food preparation can be very harmful when it’s done improperly, and even one incident is not worth having.”

Flores said to his knowledge, Sodexho Alliance has not had problems with food safety.

According to the corporate Web site, Sodexho is the leading provider of food and facilities management in the United States and Canada, with $4.9 billion in annual sales.

A site maintained by the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union, (www.eyeonseodexho.org) “your independent source of information about the world’s largest food service company,” provided links to seven published articles concerning unsafe health standards at Sodexho facilities from Chicago to Glasgow, England.

The Cape Cod Times ran three articles in February 2001 after a Barnstable High School student found the tip of a Sodexho employee’s thumb in a sandwich. Sodexho was fined $9,450, and received three citations by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), according to the Cape Cod Times.

Flores said TCU and Sodexho take food safety very seriously.

“Food preparation and safety is a very touchy subject,” Flores said. “We are extremely careful with the food at TCU because we realize the risks involved if it is done improperly.”

Kami Lewis
k.e.lewis@student.tcu.edu

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