Benefits of Paper Placemat or Tray Cover Use in the Reduction of Bacterial Contamination in Selected Public Facilities: Executive Summary (Members Only)

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Executive Summary:

Benefits of Paper Placemat or Tray Cover Use in the Reduction of Bacterial Contamination in Selected Public Facilities

Conducted by the University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh
for the Foodservice & Packaging Institute, Inc.
INTRODUCTION
In 1979, a study documenting the sanitary benefits of paper placemats was conducted by the Food Protection Laboratory of the Syracuse Research Corporation. Results from this study demonstrated that placemats help in the reduction bacterial transfer from tabletops in restaurants. Similar results were found in a study conducted in 1997 by University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh’s Department of Biology and Microbiology.
The objective of the 2006 study, also conducted by the University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh was to expand upon the study conducted in 1997 to include new groups of facilities and products and a more detailed breakdown of the microorganisms present. In the restaurants and daycares the objective was to evaluate microbial loads on placemats versus uncovered tables. In long-term care facilities, lodging and hospitals tray covers were compared to uncovered trays. In all cases, the microorganisms examined were Bacillus, coliforms, Enterococcus, Micrococcus, Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, among others.
METHODOLOGY
Sampling was conducted from mid-January to mid-May 2006, and the protocol was followed from Standard Methods for the Examination of Dairy Products, 16th edition (1985). A total of twenty plates were used per facility, ten tabletop/tray surfaces and ten placemat/tray cover surfaces. If a location did not use placemats/tray covers just the tabletop/tray was sampled. Samples were usually collected mid-afternoon, following the lunch hour. The samples were collected by uncovering the Rodac® plate, inverting it, and stamping the agar on the sample surface. They were then transported to UW Oshkosh where they were incubated. Following the incubation period, plates were counted and identified by morphology.
RESULTS
A total of 50 facilities, in the five aforementioned groups, agreed to have their locations participate in this study. The daycare group did not have any placemat data due to the fact that none of the facilities contacted used placemats. Therefore, a total of 900 data points were collected.
Long-term care, restaurants, hospitals and lodging all showed a statistically significant difference between the samples that had placemats/tray covers when compared to samples that did not use this protective barrier.
While the daycare facilities had no statistics conducted due to the lack of placemats, these facilities had the highest levels over overall microbes and ten-times the amount of coliforms of the next highest facility group. Restaurants and lodging facilities were the next two groups with the highest levels of overall microbes and coliforms. The hospital and long-term care facilities demonstrated the least amount of overall microbes and coliforms.
While the placemats/tray covers were very successful as a barrier to overall bacterial contact, they were particularly effective as a barrier to coliforms. Additionally, there were much higher levels of Staphylococcus found in samples with no placemats/tray covers. Only one group (restaurants) showed any coliforms when the placemats were sampled.
DISCUSSION
This study shows similar results to the two previous studies mentioned in the Introduction. The placemats/tray covers provided an excellent barrier to the inadvertent contact with microorganisms at a number of facilities. Statistical analysis of the overall microbial means within each group showed a significant difference in all groups that had both covered and uncovered sites. Additionally, the daycare group did not use placemats, but likely could benefit from their use due to their relatively high level of microbes and coliforms. This overall lack of microbial contact would likely translate into a more sanitary environment, and consequently an environment that would be less likely to transmit disease causing microorganisms to unsuspecting users of these facilities. This principal is no more important than in a daycare where children lack the basic understanding of sanitation and personal hygiene.
Given the relatively low cost of these paper products they could be a value-added public health benefit to all these facilities. A cost-benefit analysis may be warranted to show operators of these facility types that the benefits of using placemats/tray covers far outweigh any additional costs to the facility. If more facilities used these barriers it would be an asset to environmental public health and may be able to prevent the spread of common illnesses.

Foodservice Packaging: Sanitation

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Single-Use Versus Reusables: The Good, The Bad and The Yucky

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Single-use versus Reusable Foodservice Packaging: The Good, the Bad, and the Yucky

Foodservice packaging like paper and plastic cups, plates and bowls were invented over 100 years ago to provide a more sanitary alternative to their reusable counterparts and help protect public health. Over the years, the Foodservice Packaging Institute has commissioned independent studies with third-party laboratories to confirm the sanitary advantage of single-use foodservice packaging over reusables.

Before you choose that ceramic mug over a paper or plastic cup, you may want to know what the latest study shows. In 2012, health inspectors visited 30 different foodservice establishments in Sacramento County, Calif. and swabbed nearly 300 single-use cups, plates, bowls and cutlery and their reusable counterparts. These swabs were sent to a laboratory for testing, and here’s what they found:

    • Evidence of Enterococcus and Staphylococcus – bacteria that can cause diarrhea, cramps, nausea, vomiting, fever and chills – was below the detection limit on both the single-use and reusable items. Certainly good news for the foodservice industry.
    • Not such good news when it comes to coliform bacteria, which is usually traced back to fecal matter (ewww!) and can cause bloody diarrhea, severe abdominal pain, cramps, nausea, vomiting and occasionally fever. If that’s not bad enough, it can be fatal in the young, elderly and immune-compromised. The results of the swabs taken in Sacramento County showed evidence of coliforms on four percent of reusable items and on none of the single-use items. Hmm, wonder what would have happened to those lucky customers if they had been served the reusable plate, bowl and spoon that the laboratory determined had over six times the coliforms?!?!

Another test was the mere presence of bacteria, which could indicate a food safety or public health hazard. Single-use items were again shown to be more sanitary, with statistically significant lower bacteria counts compared to the reusable items. Consider these test results:

    • Over one-third (gulp!) of the reusable plates and bowls tested had higher than acceptable microbial levels, compared to nine percent of single-use cups.
    • One quarter of the reusable forks, knives and spoons tested had higher than acceptable microbial levels, compared to just over ten percent of single-use cups.
    • Seventeen percent of reusable cups tested had higher than acceptable microbial levels, compared to only seven percent of single-use cups.

Time after time, sanitation studies prove that single-use Foodservice Packaging is The Sensible Solution.

Sanitation Study: Survey of Reusable and Single-Use Foodservice Items – Summary

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Executive Summary:

A Study of Reusable and Single-Use Foodservice Items

Conducted for the Foodservice Packaging Institute, Inc. by Silliker, Inc. Food Science Center
September 2012

INTRODUCTION & METHODOLOGY
From December 2011 to April 2012 the Foodservice Packaging Institute, Inc., with the assistance of Sacramento County, California Health Department, conducted a survey of the sanitary quality of single-use foodservice packaging products and their reusable counterparts. Four health inspectors visited 30 different foodservice establishments including coffee bars, restaurants and colleges/universities. In each establishment, five single-use and five reusable foodservice items were sampled using a swab test protocol developed by Silliker, Inc. of Chicago, Illinois, for a study sample size of 300 items. Samples included forks, knives, spoons, cups, containers, plates and bowls.

One sterile transport swab containing a medium to prevent die off of microorganisms was used to sample each foodservice item. The swab was rubbed slowly and thoroughly over the entire food contact surface area and returned to its transport vial for shipment. Vials were packed in ice and shipped to Silliker’s Food Science Center for testing.

Once returned, each swab was tested utilizing standard methodology for aerobic plate count, staphylococcus plate count, enterococcus plate count and coliform most probable number technique. All bacterial counts were converted into logarithms for data analysis. If p>0.05, no statistically significant difference was detected.

RESULTS
All Enterococcus and Coagulase Positive Staphylococcus (CPS) plate counts were below the detection limit of the analyses. Significant differences (p=0.0043) were observed statistically for single-use versus their reusable counterparts for the aerobic plate count (APC). Significant differences (p=0.045) were observed statistically for single-use versus their reusable counterparts for coliform count.

CONCLUSION
Overall, reusable foodservice items had higher microbial levels than single-use foodservice items. This difference could be attributed to handling of reusable items more frequently by food service employees versus single-use items, or insufficient cleaning and sanitizing of reusable foodservice items.

The full report is available for members of the Foodservice Packaging Institute