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Food Safety Works Colorado State University Extension
SafeFood Rapid Response Network

SAFEFOOD NEWS - Spring 1997 - Vol. 1, No. 3

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Jack In The Box After the Outbreak

Since its well-publicized experience with E. coli O157:H7 in 1993, Jack In the Box has become a crusader for higher standards across the entire food service industry. Food safety expert David Theno, Ph.D., began working with Jack In The Box a week after the E. coli incident and later became the chain's director of quality assurance.

After meat suppliers were changed and meat from the new supplier underwent microbial testing "unheard of in the industry," Theno installed a HACCP system in all Jack In The Box restaurants. Up to that point, HACCP had been a tool used mainly in food- manufacturing plants. Theno's challenge was to retool the system for restaurants.

Jack In The Box's HACCP system has three basic parts: equipment calibration, a shift checklist for each of the workday's four shifts, and a weekly health and safety checklist.

Theno stresses that the human element cannot be ignored. "Employees have to understand why they're doing what they're doing," he says. Some staff say they handle food at home differently based on what they've learned at work. "That's when you've made a big difference," he says.

As a result of its work with HACCP, Jack In The Box has become a food safety resource for the industry. Chains, among them Arby's, have asked for help in installing a HACCP program, Theno says.

Another effort involves gathering industry support for legislation that would require some form of HACCP in all restaurants. At the very least, Jack In The Box would like to see one crew member on each shift in each restaurant trained in ServSafe. Some states, such as Florida, are moving toward such a requirement.

Theno says Jack In The Box is continually refining the HACCP system, continuing to work with suppliers, and sharing data and systems with suppliers and operators.

Source: Restaurants and Institutions, October 15, 1996.

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Updated Monday, August 29, 2011