Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/80263
The Food Shield continued market forces tightened budgets for new equipment and prototype designs. • Strict interpretation of the new codes often require a food shield over hot food servers and covered soupwells, making access challenging for cus- tomers as well as staff who check or replenish food. This creates its own con- ditions for less food safety. • The new dimensions that are required make it challenging to simul- taneously comply withADA (disability) requirements, which have also come under more stringent enforcement in recent years. In some cases, the food shield standardsmay even create direct conflict with ADA requirements. • Food Shields don't protect food from young children whose sneeze has a direct path to unprotected food. Contemplate the degree of risk from a child's sneeze. For this reason, food shields certified for use in elementary schools cannot be self-service,but what happens when children use a buffet at a hotel or a resort? • When the position of the shield makes it difficult to access food with spoons or tongs, some customers will use their hands to access food.Or when utensils are used, customers often leave them in the food,which can cause con- tamination through repeated use of the utensils. The introduction and wide accept- ance of use of adjustable food shields have provided a solution to many of these issues. After a facility has been inspected and approved, fully adjustable food shields remedy most concerns when installers or operators adjust the glass shields to provide reasonable access. They "hope" that in follow-up inspections that the dimensionswill not be re-checked. If local health depart- ments committed to compliance with the new NSF standards realize that adjustable guards make it easy for oper- ators to circumvent the codes, there is a risk that some inspectors may require adjustable guards be welded or locked into place to eliminate any possibility of cheating. Adjusting a food shield out of compli- ance can be an expensivemistake for an operator and potential liability for a sup- plier/installer. With the financial chal- lenges faced by local jurisdictions, fines for health department infractions have become a major source of revenue. If a facility has multiple breath protectors that have been improperly installed or adjusted after the fact, out of compli- ance fines could be substantial, running into thousands of dollars in some cities. What CanYou Do? 1.Check with the local health depart- ment in your area to verify how they interpret food shield requirements. Some health departments recognize the challenges operators facewith the latest regulations and allowconformancewith the 2002 standards. 2.If you have determined the local health departments accept full compli- ance with the 2008 NSF standard, be sure to inform your customer of the continued on page 31 24 FEDA News & Views