 Infection control isn’t just a clinical matter — it’s a core foodservice concern in senior living and adult care facilities. Residents over 65 are significantly more vulnerable to foodborne illness due to slower digestive systems, weakened immunity, and chronic conditions that make recovery harder than in younger populations. Outbreaks in these settings can lead to severe outcomes, including hospitalizations and even death, which makes prevention critical.
Federal data show that between 1998 and 2017, long-term care facilities reported 230 foodborne illness outbreaks, resulting in 54 deaths and 532 hospitalizations tied to food handling failures. From 2024 to 2025, federal investigators linked a multistate Listeria outbreak to frozen nutritional shakes served in hospitals and long-term care facilities, resulting in 38 confirmed infections, 37 hospitalizations, and at least 12 deaths, with most patients being older adults or individuals receiving care in institutional settings. At the same time, an Associated Press interview with public health officials reported that changes to CDC surveillance programs — such as reduced routine tracking of certain foodborne pathogens — may make outbreaks affecting vulnerable populations harder to detect. This can create risk for long-term care facilities, which continue to experience high rates of infectious gastroenteritis, including norovirus, every year. These incidents underscore how lapses in sanitation, temperature control, or staff illness policies can quickly escalate in communal dining environments. Foodservice operators can protect themselves by using best practices for infection control, including staff training on hand hygiene, safe food handling, and sanitation protocols, reinforced through regular monitoring and documentation. It’s important for facilities to adopt layered protections that address every step of meal preparation and service — preparation, cooking, cooling, and serving — because pathogens like norovirus and Salmonella can thrive when control points are missed.  As respiratory viruses and gastrointestinal illnesses surge each winter, strengthening hand hygiene compliance becomes one of the most effective ways to protect guests and staff. Yet even well-trained teams often experience lapses during busy service periods. Operators are increasingly turning to a mix of behavioral design, monitoring technology, and targeted training refreshers to close the compliance gap.
Simple environmental cues — like placing sanitizer within line of sight, using color-coded dispensers, or adding floor markings near high-touch stations — can increase hand-sanitizing behavior without adding labor. Some operators now use sensor-based monitoring systems that track dispenser use in real time and send alerts when compliance drops, helping managers identify patterns and intervene quickly. Short, seasonal training refreshers also help reinforce standards. Quick micro-trainings during pre-shift meetings, updated signage, and peer-to-peer coaching keep hygiene top of mind when illness risk is highest. While times have changed since the pandemic, safety is still a critical pillar supporting the experience you offer guests (and their perceptions of it). Your commitment to food safety sends a clear message about the hospitality you provide. When you find new ways to share your food safety practices openly with guests, you can build trust, boost loyalty and even improve your competitive edge.
Consumers increasingly want to know how their food is sourced, prepared and protected. There are all kinds of ways to offer real-time assurance –QR codes on packaging or signage can link to allergen guides, cleanliness standards, or kitchen certifications. Even simple steps like visible handwashing stations, staff using gloves and sanitizers, or checklists posted near prep areas can reassure guests that you take safety seriously. Brands like MOD Pizza encourage guests to ask about prep procedures and cleanliness. They also post videos that show how their kitchens maintain sanitation during busy shifts. Panera launched a "No No List" of ingredients it refuses to use and has pushed public commitments on clean eating and sourcing. Its staff are trained to address food safety and allergen concerns directly with guests. By proactively sharing your safety standards (and by extension, your ingredient sourcing standards), you signal care, professionalism, and respect. Looking at your practices, are there ways you can use transparency as not simply a regulatory necessity, but also a marketing advantage?  We all know it’s important to wash our hands – and chances are good that people on your team aren’t consciously walking around with contaminated hands. Yet in a demanding, fast-paced foodservice environment, it can be easy for handwashing to happen less frequently and less thoroughly than it should. But it’s so important: According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one million deaths each year could be prevented if everyone routinely washed their hands – and a large percentage of foodborne disease outbreaks are spread by contaminated hands. Fortunately, technology is taking human error out of the equation for food safety tasks, to include handwashing. One case in point is the Handscanner, a device from PathSpot that is being dubbed the “handwashing lie detector.” The small device can be wall-mounted next to a handwashing sink. After a worker washes their hands with soap and water, then dries them with a paper towel, they place their hands under the scanner. Within a couple of seconds, the device uses non-UV LED imaging technology to identify residual contaminants on hands and wrists. The technology, which is used in healthcare settings, is able to detect contamination in hard-to-clean areas like under fingernails and around jewelry. It is already in use in 10,000 foodservice locations worldwide, including franchised Taco Bell, Arby’s and Chopt restaurants.
 Despite the rise in real-time, tech-based controls designed to help businesses monitor foodborne illness risks, outbreaks continue to be an issue for foodservice operations. The CDC recorded 519 norovirus outbreaks between August 2023 and January of this year, a sharp rise from the previous year’s numbers, and Salmonella has impacted people across 32 states in recent months. On top of food safety technology that helps foodservice operations monitor protocols and stay alert to problems, old-fashioned food safety practices are just as important. A Food Safety Tech report says this should include thorough, frequent handwashing; proper hand hygiene prior to handling food; and the use of alcohol-based sanitizer as an added precaution – not a substitute – for handwashing. It’s also important to clean and sanitize high-touch surfaces and equipment regularly – and wash and sanitize produce to eliminate contaminants (the recent Salmonella outbreak was linked to cantaloupe and pre-cut fruit products). The report also advises careful handling and proper cooking of seafood, particularly shellfish, and having an employee policy with clear guidelines for managing staff illness, especially regarding when it’s important to avoid handling food or reporting to work.
 When the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) led a study investigating the various factors that contribute to the cross-contamination of food in restaurants, they found more frequent cases of contamination in businesses that were lacking food safety training and certification, as well as those without handwashing policies. Contamination risks were present in restaurants that didn’t require manager certification or train workers in food safety, for example. As for handwashing, the risk for contamination was greatest in restaurants that didn’t have policies detailing where, when and how often to wash hands, or on the need to minimize bare-hand contact with ready-to-eat foods. Unfortunately, 60 percent of the foodborne illness outbreaks reported to the CDC each year connect back to restaurants, so it’s worth zeroing in on these areas if improving food safety is on your list of priorities this year. Having a staff discussion about handwashing is something a restaurant manager can do right away to help lower a restaurant’s risks – particularly at a time when seasonal viruses are common.
 Approximately 48 million people in the U.S. – roughly one in six people – get sick, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die each year from foodborne diseases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The financial impact following a single foodborne illness outbreak associated with a restaurant can run into the millions of dollars, not to mention the threats it poses to people’s lives. While these outbreaks are a significant problem, the good news is that they are largely preventable. As seasonal illnesses ramp up, do you feel your staff is focusing in the correct areas to limit the spread of infection? Prioritize the targets with the biggest protective potential – such as thorough handwashing on the job and labor scheduling to help ensure backup if and when staff are ill this winter. Your training can reinforce the “why” behind these precautions.
 Poor hygiene is among the biggest contributors to the spread of foodborne illness – and it can make seasonal illnesses easier to spread too. Make sure your staff receive reminders about proper handwashing technique, as well as which sinks are to be used for handwashing. Beyond that, reinforce your policy around the use of protective items like gloves and hairnets, as well as jewelry – rings, bracelets and watches can all harbor bacteria and be potential sources of cross-contamination. Staff should keep their own drinks covered with a lid and confined to break rooms.
 When it comes to protecting your guests from pathogens, maintaining proper hand hygiene is the most important thing your staff can do. The most common cause of foodborne illness is spreading pathogens through touch and food can become contaminated quickly if those preparing and serving your food don’t maintain adequate hygiene or use personal protective equipment incorrectly. Hand washing, in combination with protective gear like food-grade gloves, are your best defenses. According to the CDC, thorough hand washing requires wetting hands with clean running water; applying soap; lathering both sides of the hands, between fingers and under fingernails; scrubbing hands for at least 20 seconds; rinsing hands under clean running water; and drying them with a clean towel or air dryer. Does your staff do a thorough enough job?
 Bare-hand contact with ready-to-eat foods triggers about 30 percent of foodborne illnesses in restaurants each year, according to the CDC. In addition to following recommendations for frequent handwashing, using tongs, deli tissue or single-use gloves can provide a useful backstop protecting your restaurant’s food safety record. Just make sure staff follow proper procedures for using, cleaning, and where appropriate, discarding, these items so you can prevent cross-contamination and avoid having staff use these protections in place of regular handwashing.
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