Health/Lifeline

Paying For Food Warnings, But Do They Get Them?

(WCCO) While health investigators think they're closing in on the culprit that spoiled summer salads and barbecues, consumer expect grocery stores and restaurants to be on top of the latest health alerts.

However, one business owner says he didn't get the warning even though he paid for it.

In the past two years, the state has collected $1.4 million in fees for a statewide food notification system that it has used four times. The state has used the system six more times for disease outbreaks.

Every restaurant in the state is charged $35 a year to fund the system. The Minnesota Department of Health's Buddy Ferguson said the money raised also goes to the training of state and local food safety inspectors.

When the Food and Drug administration put out a nationwide warning about tomatoes in June, local restaurants did not receive a warning. The Health Department says the federal tomato warning didn't measure up to Minnesota standards because it wasn't specific enough.

"This is for very hot situations where it's very urgent that we get the information out to people. And we don't want to be the boy who cried wolf," said Ferguson.

However, local restaurant owner Pat Duffy said he doesn't think he is getting his moneys worth out of the fee. He believes the Health Department should make notifications on all FDA warnings.

"If we are not getting the information that we're paying to get, then the system's not working," said Duffy.

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