ST. PAUL, Minn., Sep 28, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Ecolab Inc. continued its commitment to proactively help improve global
food safety by co-sponsoring the fourth annual Nation's Restaurant News'
Food Safety Symposium.
Held earlier this September at Johnson & Wales University in Charlotte,
N.C., the annual Food Safety Symposium provides a platform for sharing
best practices, proactive and preventative approaches, and personal
experiences surrounding food safety issues.
Quality Assurance executives representing some of today's most popular
quick service (convenience) and full service restaurant chains attended
the event. A "Special Report" highlighting the Symposium will appear in
the October 10 issue of Nation's Restaurant News.
Katherine Swanson, Ph.D., Vice President of Food Safety for Ecolab, was
the keynote speaker. Her address, entitled "H1N1: Are You Prepared?,"
focused on the steps restaurants and other foodservice operations should
take immediately to prepare for the H1N1 pandemic that is spreading
across the Northern Hemisphere.
"Plan, prepare and prevent: those are the key steps to dealing with the
H1N1 pandemic, as well as any food safety or public health issue,"
Swanson told attendees. "Washing your hands properly, cleaning and
disinfecting your equipment and facility properly, these should already
be part of your everyday operation. With the emergence of H1N1, you'll
just have to do those things more often and more consistently to prevent
the spread of the virus."
Other event topics included best practices in supply chain/traceability,
food safety compliance, hiring and training of employees in food safety
at the unit level, as well as legal advice on crisis management.
"This year's NRN/Ecolab Food Safety Symposium once again provided an
excellent forum for industry leaders to come together and build on our
collective experiences regarding food safety," said Ana Hooper, vice
president of Total Quality for Darden Restaurants. "By sharing our
experiences, we collaborate to build a joint platform that is focused
not only on the prevention of issues, but also on ensuring that swift,
effective intervention steps are implemented for corrective actions as
necessary."
With sales of $6 billion and more than 26,000 associates, Ecolab Inc.
(NYSE: ECL) is the global leader in cleaning, sanitizing, food safety
and infection prevention products and services. Ecolab delivers
comprehensive programs and services to foodservice, food and beverage
processing, healthcare, and hospitality markets in more than 160
countries. More news and information is available at www.ecolab.com.
(ECL-C)
SOURCE: Ecolab Inc.
Ecolab Inc.
Jennifer Kirscher, 651-293-2846
Copyright Business Wire 2009