Greater Cincinnati health inspectors cited more than 1,400 local restaurants for violating rules relating to food temperatures in the second half of last year.
One of them, Game On Bar & Grill in Green Township, invested in new technology to help it solve the problem.
“It’s called a Govee,” General Manager Hunter Hampton said while pointing to one of several new sensors in his kitchen refrigeration units. “Basically, it’ll record the temperature and keep a log. Anything comes out of temp, you get a notification. And it’ll also track if it’s a one-time thing or if it’s been that way for a long time.”
Ray PfefferRestaurateurs are always looking for ways to steer clear of the “danger zone,” that range of temperatures between 40 and 140 degrees in which food is most susceptible to bacterial infection.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control estimates there are 48 million cases of foodborne illness each year, causing 128,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths. In a study of cases associated with restaurants, the CDC revealed last May that 10% were caused by improper cooling of hot food, while 6% of cases came from improper amounts of time and temperature applied in the cooking process.