Carroll Company Blog

You’ve probably at least heard chatter about the “internet of things.” You may have heard sensational stories of remarkable business transformations IoT has made possible.

Those are real. In 2010, Ericsson CEO Hans Vestburg first made the prediction that the world will have 50 billion connected devices by 2020. In 2011, Dave Evans, a Cisco employee, made the same prediction.

What Is IoT?

You may not yet have a concrete idea of the internet of things. Basically, it’s hooking up sensors throughout your building in places that weren’t previously possible. You can now do this because it’s finally become cost-effective enough to mass-produce sensors so nearly every business can afford them.

Why Should C-Stores Care about IoT?

IoT sensors automate a lot of manual labor. And when you have them integrated properly into your c-store and business processes, you can actually predict and respond to anticipated future events before they happen. Attempt to do the same on your own, and you shoot your labor costs through the roof.

For example, IoT sensors could monitor your stock of a certain brand of candy bar, and then automatically order more when you need them. Multiply this by a thousand times across all your stores, and that’s where the savings start to pile up. Then, you may be able to use the data to make more intelligent business decisions.

But Don’t Use IoT Because It’s The Next Hot Trend

There’s no doubt the internet of things makes sense for many businesses. Many are adopting it already.

But that doesn’t necessarily mean you should. Elliot Grant, founder of Harvest Mark, a traceability company that serves the food industry, recommends:

“Having more data doesn’t necessarily give you more insight. So my recommendation is to identify what are the key drivers of risk and opportunity that could potentially be improved with more measurements.”

He also adds that you should take a thousand measurements by hand to see if the data you harvest from that process actually makes any difference for your company. Once you understand how that does (or does not) help your business, then you should make a decision on using the internet of things.

IoT will be a megatrend in business. But only you can decide if it makes sense for yours.

“Norovirus” sounds intimidating, and it is certainly unpleasant. But, it only causes unpleasant gastrointestinal problems (nausea, stomach pain, vomiting, and diarrhea) for a few days. While it’s certainly not the end of the world, it’s not something you want your customers to get. And, there’s currently no medication that effectively works against it.

But now, researcher Hamada Aboubakr has found an effective treatment for it: sterilization with cold plasma. The problem up to this point has been that whatever’s being sterilized can’t handle the process. Usually, it gets damaged to the point where it’s not edible anymore.

But, Aboubakr’s methodology works a little different. Be warned, as this gets a little complex to discuss.  Aboubakr used a two-dimensional air–based micro-discharge plasma array (2D-AMPA) which generates plasma from two dimensions in air instead of using pure gases. The methodology also uses lower power, which makes it cost-effective and environmentally friendly. This method can also be used for surface decontamination.

For Food Safety, The Results are Significant

Summing up the results, the basic idea is that this technology can be used to eliminate 99% of norovirus particles. Because of the way the process happens, it works on romaine lettuce without causing damage. And it’s believed the technology can be adapted for restaurants, cruise ships, and grocery stores. By extension, it could also logically be a great fit for your c-store and food items that hit your shelves.

Since about 20 million Americans get infected with norovirus each year, that makes it a prevalent condition in need of treatment. No one’s estimated the particular results that could be expected. But, it is believed this could put quite a dent in the 20 million annual infections in the US.

Keep Your Eyes and Ears Open

It goes through the mind of every c-store manager: what if something bad happens with your food safety, and you suddenly find yourself at odds with the FDA?

Such scenarios can happen, even if you work hard at keeping your food safe for your customers. Take a look at some of these tips, and make sure you’re implementing them at your c-store:

1. Make Sure Your Team Knows Your Food Safety Procedures and Best Practices

It all starts with your employees. How often do you have them brush up on food safety best practices? If you have a regular routine in place, how do you reinforce this behavior on a consistent basis?

Do you reward your team for making less than a certain amount of mistakes? Everyone needs consistent practice (beyond your routine trainings) to stay at the top of their game so mistakes don’t happen.

2. What’s Your Handwashing Policy?

Believe it or not, the simplest problems usually lead to the most food safety issues. That includes washing your hands. Do your employees wash their hands for at least 20 seconds before and after they handle raw meat?

In the medical care industry, professionals fail to wash their hands and cause hundreds of thousands of unnecessary or premature patient deaths annually. If the problem’s that prevalent in an industry where professionals should understand the importance of washing their hands, what might the true extent of it be in relation to your food’s safety?

3. Educate Your Shoppers Too

Your shoppers do have some responsibility in the safety of their food too. They should refrigerate their food, and especially their meat, as soon as they get home. They should also wash their hands for seconds before and after they handle meat. And they should keep their meat products separate from all other food.

If they grab food that you keep hot, they should do so with a piece of wax paper, just in case they decide not to take that item. In-store signs and notifications through your app are two possible ways to fill them in on the dangers of not paying attention to food safety.

4. Work with Suppliers You Trust

You can’t control what your suppliers do in relation to food safety. But you can have a conversation with them about how they do it. And if you don’t feel comfortable with your current supplier, you can change to a different one. Remember, when you have food safety issues that go public, you don’t get a pass, even if it was your supplier’s fault.

If you follow these 4 tips, you’ll keep your food safe at your c-store. And you’ll look good to your customers too.

Each year, 1 in 6 Americans, or about 16% of the population, gets a foodborne illness, according to the CDC. Often, people don’t even know the true source of their symptoms because foodborne illness seems like the stomach flu, and it may take up to a week before symptoms appear.

Even though the US has some of the safest food in the world, you still have a reasonable potential for getting your customers sick. Take a look at a few of the most common causes, and learn what you can do about each:

1. Know the Safety Processes of Your Meat Processors

Animals, even healthy ones, can carry infectious bacteria in their intestines. When raised on the farm, they may eat in fields spread in manure. Once processed in a plant, their intestines can come into contact with their own, or other, parts of animals sold to your customers.

What you can learn: Always know what your suppliers do to keep their food safe. Also, ask them if they have a food safety program they expect their vendors to follow.

2. Two Strains of Bacteria Can Grow, Even In Refrigerated Conditions

Again, according to the CDC, Listeria monocytogenes and Yersinia enterocolitica can grow at refrigerator temperatures. For all other types of bacteria, proper refrigeration prevents growth.

Cooking food to an internal temperature of 160 degrees or greater kills parasites, viruses, and bacteria. However, there’s an exception to that too. Clostridium bacteria produce spores that are only killed when temperatures increase to above boiling.

What you can learn: Make sure your suppliers and their vendors account for these exceptions in their processes. You don’t want to take the fall for their mistakes.

3. Fruits and Vegetables are Difficult to Keep Safe for Your Customers

Fruits and veggies do get processed in unsanitary conditions sometimes. Much of their safety depends on the quality of water used to wash them after picking. Fresh manure can be used to fertilize fruits and vegetables too, which poses obvious risks. In rare cases, the bacteria present in them can lead to death, according to Harvard Men’s Health Watch.

What you can learn: Harvard Men’s Health Watch recommends you wash fruits and vegetables in clean water and peel them yourself. Educate your customers to do this.

Keeping your food safe is not always easy, or in your control. However, by understanding these common causes of foodborne illness, you can minimize risk to your customers and c-store.

Eating certain types of food can increase your customer’s risk to become one of the 1 in 6 Americans who experiences a foodborne illness each year. So, as a c-store, what foods do you have to pay attention to keep your customers safe and happy?

The following:

1. Most Dangerous: Leafy Greens

All kinds of meat get most of the attention in regard to safety. However, leafy greens were the most likely to be responsible for a food-related illness outbreak between 1990 – 2009. The Center for Science in the Public Interest found leafy greens were responsible for 24% of all food-related outbreaks from 1990 – 2009.

Leafy greens includes foods like spinach, romaine lettuce, and arugula. While they’re very healthy, they’re also likely to be contaminated by grazing animals who track manure all over them, or from irrigation water that’s contaminated. In most cases, leafy greens are grown in large fields where these conditions can be present.

2. Eggs

This one may not come as a surprise. Eggs and poultry have received their fair share of attention in the major news media.

Eggs, unfortunately, can easily become contaminated while still inside of the chicken, or in the hen house. The ease with which they can be contaminated makes them highly likely to cause salmonella poisoning.

To protect your customers, your eggs should be immediately refrigerated upon delivery.

3. Tuna

You may have heard the news stories about tuna and high mercury in the past. But, tuna can also spread a number of foodborne diseases too.

Why?

Because tuna can be contaminated with scombrotoxin. This can form when tuna isn’t kept cool after harvesting, during processing, or while shipping. And even if the tuna gets cooked at a safe internal temperature, scombrotoxin can still survive.

The only thing you can do is ask your supplier how they store their tuna before it gets to you. It should be kept at 40° or less.

4. Potatoes

Notice that even though meat gets a lot of attention, it still hasn’t made the list of most dangerous foods. From 1990 – 2009, meat did account for a large amount of foodborne illness. However, the FDA doesn’t regulate it, so precise statistics for it aren’t available.

With the data available, potatoes were the 4^th most dangerous food from 1990 – 2009.

Interestingly, potatoes aren’t dangerous by themselves. It’s the dishes potatoes are served in. Potato salad, for example, should be kept in a refrigerator before being bought, or served on ice if you’re serving it directly to customers.

With this information in mind, you’re aware of some of the more common possibilities for foodborne illness. Now, you can avoid them and help your customers have an enjoyable holiday season, which leads to you having a good one too.