Food for the Needy

No thinking person can help but be concerned with the plight of the homeless. That such people go hungry in a sea of plenty (leftover foods from restaurants) appears, on the surface, inexcusable. Your article suggests that the Los Angeles County Health Department is unfairly responsible for denying distribution of edible food to these unfortunate people. I sincerely believe that the article gives the Los Angels County Health Department a “bum rap.” As a microbiologist who has spent 38 years of his professional career dealing with the problems of food spoilage and food-borne disease, I am constrained to comment on this article.

Food-borne disease is a common ailment of the American population. The magnitude of the problem is not known, as food-borne illness is grossly underreported. Importantly, the majority of food-borne illness outbreaks can be traced to mishandling by the consumer. Where does this food mishandling occur? Figures from the Centers for Disease Control indicate food service establishments (in which restaurants are included) are responsible for 77% of the outbreaks, homes for 20%. Food processing plants were responsible for 3%.

Multiple factors contribute to food-borne illness, but data from the Centers for Disease Control indicate that improper cooling of cooked foods contributed to 46% of the studied outbreaks between 1960 and 1976. During the same period, a lapse of a day or more between preparing and serving contributed to 21% of the outbreaks, improper reheating to 12%. Each of these three factors comes into play when leftover foods are transported from the point of preparation to another location.

How can the vast amounts of food discarded by restaurants be saved for the needy? This can be achieved safely only if proper temperature control is exercised in the restaurant of origin through transport to the kitchens for the needy and during storage in those kitchens before being served to the poor.

Are there any solutions, based on sound scientific principles? Yes, there are. A wide variety of foods have zero potential for causing food-borne disease. These include raw fruits and vegetables, bread and related products, and certain pastries. There should be an avenue whereby such safe leftovers could be donated to the needy, and without public health risks.

JOHN H. SILLIKER

Rancho Palos Verdes