EcoSure Audits
"All SUNY Stony Brook units have been subject to their Spring round of Food Safety Audits conducted by Ecosure and all units passed with a green rating and percentage scores in the mid - high 90% range. This performance level is consistent with what I observed while on campus in February. From that visit I can report that the Stony Brook team has established food safety as one of its highest priorities and in fact, is embracing the Food Safety program at an extraordinary level I have rarely observed on other campuses."
— Bryan Langellier, Senior Food Safety Manager, Quality Assurance Department.
Conformance with quality assurance standards and procedures, as well as compliance with regulatory requirements is a fundamental expectation for all Campus Dining operations. Food safety/QA compliance measurement is also a critical function to our company leadership. For objective and uniform compliance measurement we contract with third-party food safety audit companies to audit each business unit twice annually. New Campus operations are audited within 90 days of opening.
The third-party food safety audit companies we partner with have been chosen because of their reputation, integrity, and national capabilities. They are the premier providers of food safety and environmental hygiene services throughout North America. Auditors are highly trained and hold a wide variety of technical degrees, as well as specialty certifications.
The ten food safety compliance index categories measured during our food safety audits, which focus on the flow of food and the process of food handling, are:
- Purchasing & Receiving
- Storage
- Preparation/Production
- Service/Distribution
- Premises & Equipment
- Cleaning & Sanitizing
- Customer Areas
- Staff Standards
- Staff Facilities
- Quality Assurance Program Management
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the top five critical risk factors contributing to foodborne illnesses are:
- Foods purchased from unsafe sources
- Foods inadequately cooked
- Food temperatures inadequate during holding
- Food in contact with contaminated equipment
- Poor personal hygiene
A primary emphasis of our quality assurance program and third party food safety audit, therefore, is control of these risk factors in our university accounts.
A formal process has been established for identification and reporting of any corrective actions deemed necessary as a result of the audit. All levels of our field management participate in reaction to each audit conducted driving continuous improvement of unit-level food protection programs.