Did you know a restaurant could be out millions of dollars due to a single foodborne illness? That’s what researchers at John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health discovered.
“When restaurants have some type of foodborne illness outbreak, it’s not really clear how much of a cost it is,” Bruce Lee, a John Hopkins associate professor, told CNBC. “It hasn’t really been quantified before.”
Lee and his team analyzed how an outbreak could financially impact a variety of restaurants from fast-food joints to fine-dining establishments. Take a look at what a single foodborne illness might cost for an outbreak in which five people get sick with no lost revenue, lawsuits, legal fees or fines, to a 250-person outbreak with a high loss of revenue (100 meals lost per illness) and a high number of lawsuits, legal fees and fines:
- From $3968 to $1.9 million for a fast-food restaurant
- From $6330 to $2.1 million for a fast-casual restaurant
- From $8030 to $2.2 million for a casual-dining restaurant
- From $8273 to $2.6 million for a fine-dining restaurant
“Our study shows that a single foodborne illness outbreak can incur substantial costs, enough to compose a large portion of a restaurant’s annual profits,” the study says. “Many of these costs outweigh the costs of various infection prevention and control measures that are available to restaurants.”
One illness that not only disrupts a restaurant’s operations but can also incur devastating financial consequences is Hepatitis A. Hepatitis A is a communicable disease that often spreads from person to person and exposure is often attributed to contaminated food or water. The cost of a single Hepatitis A outbreak where 250 people get sick can be upwards of $1.9 million dollars – including lost revenue, lawsuits, legal fees, fines and medical costs.
The good news is that nearly all these costs can be avoided due to the effectiveness of the Hepatitis A vaccine.
How BioIQ Can Help Prevent Outbreaks
BioIQ gives food service employers a turnkey solution that makes it convenient for workers to get vaccinated against Hepatitis A and other vaccine-preventable diseases. Our simple immunization solution provides food service employees with an immunization card to bring to a local Walmart or Sam’s Club pharmacy to receive their Hepatitis A shots. The Hepatitis A vaccine is given in two doses, six months apart, for long-lasting protection.
In addition to helping employers drive participation in vaccination programs, BioIQ provides thorough analytics and real-time reporting to track which employees are receiving their vaccines.
Here’s how it works:
To learn how BioIQ can help keep your workforce healthy, please call 888-818-1594 or email sales@bioiq.com