School lunches receive a lot of attention with respect to dietary guidelines and menus not well received by students. School food safety issues however don’t receive nearly the same exposure yet pose serious health implications for children.
Foodborne disease afflicts at least 48 million people resulting in 128,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths annually according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC). Of those affected, children are the most vulnerable to these preventable outbreaks. Reported school foodborne outbreaks account for about 3.8% of all outbreaks, and 8.2% of all illnesses reported to the CDC. Salmonella is among several pathogens responsible for food poisoning when temperature is not adequately controlled.
Monitoring the temperature of refrigerators and freezers to prevent foodborne illness is a key component of food safety programs and HACCP guidelines. Many schools still rely on the parochial pencil and paper method of record keeping. But who’s watching the kitchen on weekends, holidays and after school hours? No one knows if a refrigerator or freezer temperature has been breached because a door has been left open or equipment has failed.
The technology for monitoring and recording refrigerator and freezer temperature is readily available and very affordable. Mesa Labs Point Six™ refrigerator temperature sensors and freezer temperature sensors provide continuous temperature monitoring and immediate notification of temperature breeches that put our children at risk of foodborne disease.
Mesa Labs is a leading provider of wireless temperature sensors and is proud to work with partners such as Sentry 9000 placing wireless and WiFi refrigerator temperature sensors in dozens of school districts throughout Texas, New Mexico and California. The Coweta County School District in Metro Atlanta has also been proactive in deploying Point Six™ refrigerator and freezer temperature sensorsto protect student health.
To learn more about WiFi temperature sensors and wireless temperature sensors visit Point Six™ Wireless or contact Mark Fauber at mfauber@mesalabs.com.
